Rapid radiometric calibration of multiple camera array using in-situ data for UAV multispectral photogrammetry
Abstract
This study compares two possible radiometric calibration approaches of Tetracam μMCA Snap multispectral camera using the Dark offset subtraction and Look-Up Table (LUT) methods. A laboratory-based calibration using correction images taken under the controlled conditions was compared with a rapid in-situ based calibration featuring correction images taken during the field campaign.
The hypothesis was that the accuracy of in-situ calibration could be comparable with the laboratory calibration, and thus could replace it and simplify the radiometric calibration process. The accuracy of calibration approaches was assessed by comparison of three validation targets reflectance values extracted from corrected UAV images based on laboratory and in-situ calibration with a reference spectroscopy measurement.
The results of the field experiment showed that both calibration approaches led to significant accuracy improvement compared to raw data. The vignetting correction using resulted in a significant reduction of the Coefficient of variation by half in all bands and overall equalizing the DNs on the selected diagonal profile.
The NRMSEs after processing all corrections ranged from 0.24 to 3.40%. Although the statistical testing revealed slightly better agreement of laboratory calibrated reflectance with reference data, the accuracy of in-situ calibration is sufficient, because the accuracy improvement quantified by the NRMSE is 2 - 10 times better using both calibration approaches compared to raw data than the NRMSE differences between them.
These findings make the proposed in-situ approach usable for various environmental studies featuring UAV multispectral photogrammetry.