{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T10:25:02Z","timestamp":1773138302968,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,18]],"date-time":"2009-05-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1242604800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the photogrammetry field, interest in region detectors, which are widely used in Computer Vision, is quickly increasing due to the availability of new techniques. Images acquired by Mobile Mapping Technology, Oblique Photogrammetric Cameras or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles do not observe normal acquisition conditions. Feature extraction and matching techniques, which are traditionally used in photogrammetry, are usually inefficient for these applications as they are unable to provide reliable results under extreme geometrical conditions (convergent taking geometry, strong affine transformations, etc.) and for bad-textured images. A performance analysis of the SIFT technique in aerial and close-range photogrammetric applications is presented in this paper. The goal is to establish the suitability of the SIFT technique for automatic tie point extraction and approximate DSM (Digital Surface Model) generation. First, the performances of the SIFT operator have been compared with those provided by feature extraction and matching techniques used in photogrammetry. All these techniques have been implemented by the authors and validated on aerial and terrestrial images. Moreover, an auto-adaptive version of the SIFT operator has been developed, in order to improve the performances of the SIFT detector in relation to the texture of the images. The Auto-Adaptive SIFT operator (A2 SIFT) has been validated on several aerial images, with particular attention to large scale aerial images acquired using mini-UAV systems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s90503745","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,18]],"date-time":"2009-05-18T11:18:12Z","timestamp":1242645492000},"page":"3745-3766","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":108,"title":["Performance Analysis of the SIFT Operator for Automatic Feature Extraction and Matching in Photogrammetric Applications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5930-2711","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Lingua","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Politecnico di Torino, DITAG, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 \u2013 10129, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Marenchino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Politecnico di Torino, DITAG, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 \u2013 10129, Torino, Italy"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Nex","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Politecnico di Torino, DITAG, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 \u2013 10129, Torino, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Se, S., Lowe, D.G., and Little, J. (2001, January May). Vision-based mobile robot localization and mapping using scale-invariant features. Seoul, Korea."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Gordon, I., and Lowe, D.G. (2006). Toward Category-Level Object Recognition, Springer."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Brown, M., and Lowe, D.G. (2003, January October). Recognising panoramas. Nice, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICCV.2003.1238630"},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Rodehorst, V., and Koschan, A. (, January March,). Comparison and evaluation of feature point detectors. Technical University of Berlin, Germany."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1007\/s11263-005-3848-x","article-title":"A comparison of affine region detectors","volume":"65","author":"Mikolajczyk","year":"2005","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Vis."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Bendea, H., Cina, A., De Agostino, M., Lingua, A., and Piras, M. (2008, January October). Realizzazione di un GIS stradale con veicolo rilevatore basso costo. L'Aquila, Italy."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"8","article-title":"Reality based 3D city models for aerial and satellite data","volume":"9","author":"Poli","year":"2006","journal-title":"GEOInformatics"},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Bendea, H., Chiabrando, F., Giulio Tonolo, F., and Marenchino, D. (2007, January October). Mapping of archaeological areas using a low-cost uav. The augusta bagiennorum test site. Athens, Greece."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Forstner, W. A feature based correspondence algorithm for image matching. Rovaniemi, Finland."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Harris, C., and Stephens, M. A combined corner and edge detector. Alvey, UK."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1023\/B:VISI.0000029664.99615.94","article-title":"Distinctive image features from scale-invariant keypoints","volume":"60","author":"Lowe","year":"2004","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Vis."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Sivic, J., and Zisserman, A. Video Google: A text retrieval approach to object matching in videos. Nice, France."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gmod.2006.07.002","article-title":"SVD-matching using SIFT features","volume":"68","author":"Delponte","year":"2006","journal-title":"Graph. Models"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yun, S.U., Min, D., and Sohn, K. (2007, January May). 3D scene reconstruction system with hand-held stereo cameras. Kos Island, Greece.","DOI":"10.1109\/3DTV.2007.4379475"},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Ogawa, Y., Shimada, N., and Shirai, Y. Environmental mapping for mobile robot by tracking SIFT feature points using trinocular vision. Kagawa University, Japan."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Ali, S., Scovanner, P., and Shah, M. A 3-Dimensional SIFT descriptor and its application to action recognition. Augsburg, Germany."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Ostiak, P. (2006, January April). Implementation of HDR panorama stitching algorithm. Cast\u00e1-Papiernicka Centre, Slovakia."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Battiato, S., Gallo, G., Puglisi, G., and Scellato, S. (, January September,). SIFT features tracking for Video Stabilization. Modena, Italy."},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Battiato, S., Gallo, G., Puglisi, G., and Scellato, S. (, January January,). Improved feature-points tracking for video stabilization. San Jos\u00e8, USA."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Kalantari, M., and Kassera, M. (2004, January October). Implementation of a low-cost photogrammetric methodology for 3D modelling of ceramic fragments. Athens, Greece."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"Heinrichs, M., Hellwich, O., and Rodehorst, V. (, January July,). Robust spatio-temporal feature tracking. Beijing, China."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Fraundorfer, F., Frahm, J.M., Snoeyink, J., Pollefeys, M., and Wu, C. (, January July,). Image localization in satellite imagery with feature-based indexing. Beijing, China."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yang, Y., and Newsam, S. (2008, January October). Comparing SIFT descriptors and Gabor texture features for classification of remote sensed imagery. San Diego, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICIP.2008.4712139"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Abedinia, A., Hahnb, M., and Samadzadegana, F. (, January July,). An investigation into the registration of LIDAR intensity data and aerial images using the SIFT approach. Beijing, China."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Li, F., Zhang, G., and Yan, J. (, January July,). Coregistration based on SIFT algorithm for synthetic aperture radar interferometry. Beijing, China."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Forstner, W., and Steffen, R. On visual real time mapping for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Ke, Y., and Sukthankar, R. PCA-SIFT: A more distinctive representation for local image descriptors. Washington, USA."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"346","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cviu.2007.09.014","article-title":"Speeded-up robust features (SURF)","volume":"110","author":"Bay","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Comput. Vis. Image Underst."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1615","DOI":"10.1109\/TPAMI.2005.188","article-title":"A performance evaluation of local descriptors","volume":"27","author":"Mikolajczyk","year":"2005","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"151","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1008199403446","article-title":"Evaluation of interest point detectors","volume":"37","author":"Schmid","year":"2000","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Vis."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"Remondino, F. Detectors and descriptors for photogrammetric applications. Bonn, Germany."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"429","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1477-9730.1984.tb00505.x","article-title":"Digital image correlation: Performance and potential application in photogrammetry","volume":"11","author":"Ackermann","year":"1984","journal-title":"Photogram. Rec."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Zhang, L. (2005). Automatic Digital Surface Model (DSM) generation from linear array images. [Thesis Dissertation, ETH No. 16078, Technische Wissenschaften ETH Zurich]. IGP Mitteilung N. 90."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Baltsavias, E. (1991). Multiphoto Geometrically Constrained Matching. [PhD. Dissertation., ETH Zurich]."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Lowe, D.G. Object recognition from local scale-invariant features. Curfu, Greece."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00336961","article-title":"The structure of images","volume":"50","author":"Koenderink","year":"1984","journal-title":"Biol. Cybern."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1008045108935","article-title":"Feature detection with automatic scale selection","volume":"30","author":"Lindeberg","year":"1988","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Vis."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Brown, M., and Lowe, D.G. Invariant features from interest points groups. Cardiff, Wales."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Johnson, A., and Hebert, M. Object recognition by matching oriented points. Puerto Rico, USA."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Zabih, R., and Woodfill, J. Non-parametric local transforms for computing visual correspondence. Stockholm, Sweden."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Nowozin, S. Libsift - Scale-invariant feature transform implementation. Available online: http:\/\/user.cs.tu-berlin.de\/~nowozin\/libsift, accessed May 13, 2008."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"SIFT for Matlab Available online: http:\/\/vision.ucla.edu\/~vedaldi\/code\/sift\/sift.html, accessed May 13, 2008."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"Demo Software: SIFT Keypoint Detector Available online: http:\/\/www.cs.ubc.ca\/~lowe\/keypoints\/, accessed May 13, 2008."},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"Affine Covariant Features Available onlie: http:\/\/www.robots.ox.ac.uk\/~vgg\/research\/affine\/, accessed May 13, 2008."},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Lingua, A., Marenchino, D., and Nex, F. (2008., January October). L'operatore SIFT per l'orientamento di immagini acquisite con prese non-normali. L'Aquila, Italy."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rousseeuw, P.J., and Leroy, A.M. (1987). Robust regression and outlier detection, John Wiley & Sons Inc.","DOI":"10.1002\/0471725382"},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"Bellone, T., Lingua, A., and Rinaudo, F. Tecniche di stima robusta in fotogrammetria digitale. Napoli, Italy."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"Von Gruber, O. (1924). Einfache und Doppelpunkteinschaltung im Raum, Fisher Verlag."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"Kraus, K. (1993). Photogrammetry, Theory and applications, Ferd. Dummlers Verlag."},{"key":"ref_50","unstructured":"Wallis, R. (, January November,). An approach to the space variant restoration and enhancement of images. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA, USA."},{"key":"ref_51","unstructured":"Boccardo, P., Dequal, S., Giulio Tonolo, F., and Marenchino, D. ITHACA: Un progetto innovativo per la gestione delle emergenze ambientali. Bolzano, Italy."},{"key":"ref_52","unstructured":"Nex, F., and Rinaudo, F. (2008, January July). Multi-image matching: An \u201cOld And New\u201d photogrammetric answer to lidar techniques. Beijing, China."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/9\/5\/3745\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T22:10:25Z","timestamp":1760220625000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/9\/5\/3745"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,18]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2009,5]]}},"alternative-id":["s90503745"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s90503745","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,18]]}}}