ENVI Classic Tutorial: The

ENVIOrthorectification
Module
Orthorectification Module
Files Used in This Tutorial
Background
The ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module Workflow
Installing the ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module
Selecting Input Images and DEMs
Loading the Images and DEM into ENVI Classic
Loading the Images and DEM into the ENVI Classic Orthorectification Wizard
Working with Ground Control Points
Restoring GCPs
Adding New GCPs
Evaluating Residual Errors
Ordering Images and Defining Cutlines
Working with Tie Points
Defining Output Parameters
Optional Step

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Orthorectification Module
This tutorial demonstrates how to create an orthorectified mosaic from two QuickBird multispectral
images and a DEM of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. You will learn how to properly open the images and
DEM in ENVI Classic, restore a ground control point (GCP) file, add new GCPs, add tie points, and
define the parameters of the orthorectified product.
You must have an ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module license to run this tutorial.

Files Used in This Tutorial

Download data files from the Exelis website.
File
005606990010_01_P008_MUL\05JUL*.TIF
005606990010_01_P011_MUL\05OCT*.TIF
phoenix_DEM_subset.tif
phoenixGCPs.pts

Description
QuickBird Level-1 multispectral imagery for
Phoenix, AZ from 11 July 2005
QuickBird Level-1 multispectral imagery for
Phoenix, AZ from 09 October 2005
DEM subset of Phoenix, AZ, in GeoTIFF format
Ground control points (GCPs) for the 05JUL*
QuickBird image (in the 005606990010_01_P008_
MUL directory)

Note: It is highly recommended that you save a copy of the entire rigorous_ortho directory to
your local drive, to speed up performance and to simplify editing the GCP file (see "Restoring GCPs"
on page 9).
QuickBird files are courtesy of DigitalGlobe and may not be reproduced without explicit permission
from DigitalGlobe.

Background
An orthorectified image (or orthophoto) is one where each pixel represents a true ground location and all
geometric, terrain, and sensor distortions have been removed to within a specified accuracy. Scale is
constant throughout the orthophoto, regardless of elevation, thus providing accurate measurements of
distance and direction. Geospatial professionals can easily combine orthophotos with other spatial data
in a geographic information system (GIS) for city planning, resource management, and other related
fields.
ENVI Classic's existing orthorectification tools (accessed through Map > Orthorectification in the
ENVI Classic main menu bar) allow you to orthorectify images using rational polynomial coefficients
(RPCs), elevation and geoid information, and optional ground control points (GCPs). However, RPCs
and elevation information do not provide enough details to build a rigorous model representing the path of
light rays from a ground object to the sensor.

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The ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module allows you to build highly accurate orthorectified images
by rigorously modeling the object-to-image transformation. The details of this transformation are mostly
transparent to the user, which means you can quickly create orthorectified images without defining
detailed model parameters.
With the ENVI Classic Orthorectification Layout Manager, you can easily see the spatial coverage of
images, DEMs, GCPs, and tie points, along with residual error vectors for each GCP. You can adjust
your GCPs and tie points to improve the overall residual error for the orthorectified output. ENVI
Classic uses the latest innovative research methods to perform color balancing and mosaicking in the
output product.
The ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module is a joint collaboration between Exelis VIS and
Spacemetric AB of Stockholm, Sweden. Spacemetric designed the underlying block-adjustment model,
which provides a precision orthorectification solution for various sensors. For more technical information
on Spacemetrics orthorectification models, see their website at http://www.spacemetric.se/technology.

The ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module Workflow

The figure below shows a typical orthorectification workflow. The only required steps in the ENVI
Classic Orthorectification Module workflow are (1) select input images and DEMs, (2) build an
adjustment model, (3) select output parameters, and (4) rectify the input image(s) to produce the output
image. However, you will achieve the most accurate results by incorporating optional ground control
points (GCPs) and tie points into the model, while iteratively reviewing the overall model error and
editing points as needed to reduce the error. You can also optionally create and edit cutlines and set
some basic parameters for the final output.
The shaded boxes represent workflow steps that have an associated wizard dialog to guide you through
the process.

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Installing the ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module

The ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module requires a separate installer from the ENVI Classic
installer. When you purchase a license for the ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module, you will have
access to an installer for your Windows or Linux platform. If you do not have an ENVI Classic
Orthorectification Module license, contact Exelis VIS or your ENVI Classic distributor.
The ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module is only supported on Windows 32-bit and 64-bit platforms.

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Selecting Input Images and DEMs

The ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module requires input images to be in their native format and
directory structure, exactly as they are delivered by the data provider. The imagery must include all
associated metadata and ephemeris data. For more detailed information, see the ENVI ClassicHelp.
You must first open the image files using ENVI Classics File > Open External File menu option,
before loading the images into the Orthorectification Wizard. Use the following steps to open two
QuickBird images for input. Both are in a Geographic Lat/Lon projection with a WGS-84 datum.
Note: It is highly recommended that you save a copy of the entire rigorous_ortho directory to
your local drive, in order to speed up performance.

Loading the Images and DEM into ENVI Classic

1. From the ENVI Classic main menu bar, select File > Open External File > QuickBird >
GeoTIFF. The Enter TIFF/GeoTIFF Filenames dialog appears.
2. Navigate to rigorous_ortho/005606990010_01_P008_MUL, and open
05JUL11182931-M1BS-005606990010_01_P008.TIF. The file appears in the
Available Bands List. This is a multispectral image of Phoenix, Arizona, captured on 11 July
2005.
Note: This file will be referred to as the 05JUL* image throughout the rest of the tutorial.
3. From the ENVI Classic main menu bar, select File > Open External File > QuickBird >
GeoTIFF. The Enter TIFF/GeoTIFF Filenames dialog appears.
4. Navigate to rigorous_ortho/005606990010_01_P011_MUL, and open
05OCT09183407-M1BS-005606990010_01_P011.TIF. The file appears in the
Available Bands List. This is a multispectral image of Phoenix, Arizona, captured on 09 October
2005.
Note: This file will be referred to as the 05OCT* image throughout the rest of the tutorial.
Next, you will open a DEM into ENVI Classic. You do not need to use the File > Open External
File menu option for DEMs, when using the ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module.
5. From the ENVI Classic main menu bar, select File > Open Image File. The Enter Data
Filenames dialog appears. Navigate to rigorous_ortho, and select the file phoenix_
DEM_subset.tif. Click Open. This is a subset of a U.S. Geological Survey DEM from the
Phoenix area. It is in a Geographic Lat/Lon projection with a WGS-84 datum.
6. From the ENVI Classic main menu bar, select Map > Rigorous Orthorectification. The ENVI
Classic Orthorectification Layout Manager (hereafter referred to as the Layout Manager) and
ENVI Classic Orthorectification Wizard (hereafter referred to as the Wizard) appear.

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Loading the Images and DEM into the ENVI Classic

Orthorectification Wizard
1. In the Wizard (Step 1 of 5), click the
Input Files dialog appears.

button next to the Input Images section. The Select

2. Use the Ctrl key to select both GeoTIFF images (05OCT* and 05JUL*). Click OK. The images
appear in the Input Images list in the Wizard.
3. Click the

button next to the Input DEMs section. The Select Input Files dialog appears.

4. Select Band 1 under phoenix_DEM_subset.tif, and click OK. The DEM filename
appears in the Input DEMs list in the Wizard.
5. Click Next in the Wizard. After the images and DEMs load, their boundaries are shown in the
Layout Manager. Depending on your system, this may take some time.
The DEM (shown with a red dashed box) surrounds the two QuickBird images. Use the DEM
checkbox in the Layout Manager to control the display of the DEM boundary in the Draw Area.
Notice also that the two QuickBird images overlap. The image boundaries are shown with solid
green boxes. Use the Image checkbox in the Layout Manager to control the display of the image
boundaries in the Draw Area.

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The yellow dashed box represents the default output area for the orthorectified product, which is
currently selected to be the image boundaries. Use the Output Area checkbox in the Layout
Manager to control the display of the output area in the Draw Area.

The names of the input images and DEM appear, respectively, under the Images and DEMs tabs
of the Layout Manager:

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Working with Ground Control Points

After you loaded the QuickBird images and DEM into the Wizard and clicked Next, the Wizard
proceeded to the GCP Selection panel (Step 2 of 5), and a display group opened for the 05OCT* image.
In the GCP Selection step, you will associate image pixels to points on the ground whose locations are
known through a horizontal coordinate system and vertical datum. These points are called ground control
points (GCPs).
The controls in this step of the wizard allow you to optionally restore GCP files, to add new GCPs, and
to edit existing GCPs. Although selecting GCPs is an optional step in the overall workflow, you will
achieve the most accurate orthorectified results by using GCPs and iteratively reviewing the overall
RMS error.

Restoring GCPs
For this tutorial, you will restore a set of GCPs that lie within the 05JUL* QuickBird image boundary
(the left image as shown in the Layout Manager). DigitalGlobe, who provided the QuickBird images,

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also produced a set of GCPs for the entire Phoenix area, in Microsoft Excel format. However, the ENVI
Classic Orthorectification Module requires GCPs to be in a Rigorous Orthorectification GCP format.
For more information, see the ENVI Classic Help.
The GCP file you are about to restore (phoenixGCPs.pts) was created by identifying those GCPs
that fell within the 05JUL* QuickBird image boundary, then entering them one-by-one into the ENVI
Classic Orthorectification Wizard using map coordinates provided by DigitalGlobe. The GCPs were
already in a Geographic Lat/Lon projection with WGS-84 datum (the same projection as the QuickBird
images and DEM). The GCP file was then saved to ENVI Classic format, using the Save GCPs button
in the Wizard.
The first few lines in the GCP file (phoenixGCPs.pts) are the header lines, and they are preceded
by semicolons. They list the input images you selected earlier. They currently only list the filenames, but
the Rigorous Orthorectification GCP file format requires a full path to the image filenames. You will
need to edit phoenixGCPs.pts to include the full path to the 05JUL* QuickBird image filename on
your computer. As mentioned in the introduction, it is highly recommended that you save a copy of the
entire rigorous_ortho directory to your local drive, so that you can save your changes to the GCP
file.
1. Navigate to rigorous_ortho and open the file phoenixGCPs.pts in a text editor.
2. Edit the third line that begins with FileName1 to include the full path to the 05JUL* image.
Following is an example of editing the line in Windows, assuming you copied the entire
rigorous_ortho directory to your C: drive. The bold text indicates the part that you add:
; FileName1=C:\rigorous_ortho\005606990010_01_P008_MUL\05JUL11182931M1BS-005606990010_01_P008.TIF

Following is an example of editing this line in Linux, assuming you copied the entire
rigorous_ortho directory to a directory named usr1 on your local machine:
; FileName1=/usr1/rigorous_ortho/005606990010_01_P008_MUL/05JUL11182931M1BS-005606990010_01_P008.TIF

Note: You dont need to edit the FileName0 line, since the GCP locations in
phoenixGCPs.pts only pertain to the 05JUL* image (FileName1).
3. Save the file phoenixGCPs.pts.
4. When working with multiple input images, you need to specify which image corresponds to the
GCPs you are about to restore or add. In the Wizard, select the 05JUL* image filename from the
Active Image drop-down list:

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The display group updates to show the 05JUL* image.

5. Click the Load GCPs button in the Wizard. The Select GCP File dialog appears.
6. Select the file phoenixGCPs.pts that you just edited and saved, and click Open. After a brief
moment, the GCPs are loaded in the GCP Selection panel of the Wizard and under the GCP tab of
the Layout Manager. You may need to click the GCP and GCP Labels check boxes in the
Controls tab of the Layout Manager to view the locations of the GCPs within the Draw Area of
the Layout Manager.

Adding New GCPs

The GCPs you just restored are all within the 05JUL* image, so now you should add some GCPs to the
05OCT* image (the right-most image as shown in the Layout Manager). Unfortunately, there are only
two available GCPs for this area. But this is a realistic scenario in orthorectification: you may not
always have adequate GCP coverage throughout your area of interest, or the GCPs may be unevenly
distributed.
1. In the Wizard, select the 05OCT* image filename from the Active Image drop-down list:

2. Click the Projection toggle button

3. Click Change Proj. The Projection Selection dialog appears.

4. Select Geographic Lat/Lon.
5. Ensure that the Datum is WGS-84.
6. Click OK in the Projection Selection dialog.
7. In the Wizard, click the Projection toggle button again.
8. Click DDEG. The Lat and Lon fields change so that you can enter map coordinates in decimal
degrees.

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9. Enter the following values in their respective fields in the Wizard, then click the Add GCP button
.
Lat: 33.39088287
Lon: -111.89436526
Image X: 1279
Image Y: 1631
Elevation: 333.136
10. Enter the following values in their respective fields in the Wizard, then click the Add GCP button
.
Lat: 33.41914515
Lon: -111.90030564
Image X: 1058
Image Y: 385
Elevation: 329.81
The table in the GCP Selection panel should look as follows. The new GCP locations that you
added are shown in rows 15 and 16. ENVI Classic internally converts the geographic lat/lon
coordinates into eastings and northings for this table. The locations of all 16 GCPs are shown in
the Layout Manager.

Evaluating Residual Errors

The controls in the Layout Manager to evaluate the overall model error are a powerful feature of the
ENVI Classic Orthorectification Module. As you interactively add, edit, or remove GCPs and tie points,
the entire model is recomputed on-the-fly and your results are immediately visible in the Layout
Manager.

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1. In the Controls tab of the Layout Manager, the RMSE (root mean square error) field lists the
overall model error.
2. Enable the Residual Image option in the Layout Manager. A contour map is added to the Draw
Area, showing the residual error throughout the area based on your GCP data. Purple-to-blue
areas indicate the lowest residual errors, and red-to-white areas indicate the highest errors.
3. Right-click inside the Draw Area, and select Zoom In until you can see the contour labels more
closely. Click-and-drag the left mouse button around the Draw Area to pan around. From looking
at this contour view, you can see that ID #3 (in the far lower-left corner of the contour map) has a
relatively high residual error. IDs #1 and #14 have a relatively low error.
4. Select the GCP tab in the Layout Manager, and scroll to the right until you see the Mag field. The
contour view of residual error is based on these relative magnitude values. You must have four or
more GCPs for this column to appear.
5. Select Row #2, which corresponds to GCP ID #3. A diamond marker appears over the GCP. This
is the GCP associated with the large error you saw in Step 2. If you scroll to the Mag field for
this point, you will see a value of 206.2582. This value is very high, compared to the Mag values
of other GCPs.
6. Select the Controls tab in the Layout Manager, then enable the Residual Vectors option. Use the
arrow button (to the right of the slider) to increase the Residual Exaggeration value to 10. Cyancolored arrows originate from each GCP location, showing their error magnitudes and directions.
The left side of the scene has the highest errors and, as expected, the GCP corresponding to ID #3
has the largest residual error vector.

In the next step, you will remove this GCP and see if the overall model improves.
7. In the Wizard, click Row #3.

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8. Click the Remove GCP button . The entire model is recomputed, and the updated residual errors
are shown in the Layout Manager. What is the overall RMSE value now?
9. Click the GCP tab in the Layout Manager, and evaluate the updated Mag values for each GCP.
Did the overall model improve after deleting that GCP?
10. You can experiment with removing GCPs or editing their values to improve the overall model
error. For this tutorial, you can assume the results are reasonable and proceed to selecting tie
points. Click Next in the Wizard to proceed to the Tie Point Selection panel.

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Ordering Images and Defining Cutlines

In this optional step, you can define any areas between two or more overlapping images that you want to
appear in the final output. With each input image, you perform two steps: (1) define the hierarchy of the
image relative to the others, and (2) define an optional cutline for the image.
Use the Image Order list to define how multiple images are ordered in the final output. This list is
populated with the image filenames you added to the workflow earlier. The image at the top of the list
will be ordered first, followed by the second image, and so forth. Image ordering only pertains to areas
of overlap between two or more images:

Cutlines are polygons that are used in combination with image ordering to define areas that you want to
keep in the final output. A cutline is essentially an inclusion polygon, similar to a cookie cutter applied to
one or more images. The following example shows a cutline for a single image:

Following is an example of applying a cutline to the first-order (top-most) image when you have multiple
images.

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For this tutorial, you will skip the process of ordering images and defining cutlines, by clicking Next.
ENVI Classic will use the image frame as a cutline by default. The image frame is the area of usable
image data, excluding any background pixels.

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Working with Tie Points

In this step, you can select pixels from both images that represent the same location on the ground.
These pixels are called tie points. Although computing tie points is an optional step, tie points are an
important component for computing the orthorectified model and account for most of the accuracy in the
orthorectified product. In this exercise, you will add three tie points.
Two display groups appear, which currently show the same image (05OCT*), You need to change one
of them to show the 05JUL* image before adding tie points. You will do this in the first step.
1. In the Wizard, select the 05JUL* image from the Image 1 drop-down list. The 05OCT* image
is selected by default for Image 2, so you dont need to select anything for Image 2. The dialog
should look similar to the following:

To save some time, the pixel coordinates for each tie point were already determined for you. This
process involved identifying an object in the 05JUL* image (such as an intersection or building
corner), zooming in, and using ENVI Classics Cursor Location/Value tool to record the
fractional image coordinates for that pixel. The same object was then identified in the 05OCT*
image, and the fractional image coordinates for the corresponding pixel were recorded.
2. Enter the following pixel coordinates that represent the first tie point, then click the Add Tiepoint
button

Image 1
Image X: 6737, Image Y: 511.75
Image 2
Image X: 363.75, Image Y: 480
3. Enter the following pixel coordinates that represent the second tie point, then click the Add
Tiepoint button.

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Image 1
Image X: 6860.25, Image Y: 1997.75
Image 2
Image X: 489.75, Image Y: 1928
4. Enter the following pixel coordinates that represent the third (and final) tie point, then click the
Add Tiepoint button.
Image 1
Image X: 6835.5, Image Y: 3174
Image 2
Image X: 471.75, Image Y: 3073.5
The tie points are shown in the Layout Manager with magenta-colored X symbols, and their
values are added to the Wizard and the Tie Points tab in the Layout Manager. These dialogs
should look similar to the following.

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5. Before proceeding to the next step in the workflow, you should save your project. From the
Wizard menu bar, select File > Save Project. The Select Project File dialog appears.
6. Enter a filename and location for the project state, and click Save. ENVI Classic saves the
project state in XML format. If you need to restore your project later, select Map > Rigorous
Orthorectification from the ENVI Classic main menu bar, then select File > Restore Project
from the Wizard menu bar to select the XML file for your project. ENVI Classic automatically
opens all input files, DEMs, GCPs, and tie points, so that you dont need to open them prior to
restoring the project.
7. Click Next in the Wizard to proceed to the Image Order & Cutline Selection panel.

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Defining Output Parameters

Follow these steps to select a projection, pixel size, and filename for the orthorectified product. These
are required steps in the orthorectification workflow. ENVI Classic raster format is the only available
output format. ENVI Classic performs mosaicking and color balancing automatically, using the latest
innovative research methods.
1. In the Select Output Projection list, ensure that UTM is selected. Even though the QuickBird
data and original GCPs were Geographic Lat/Lon, the Wizard will not allow you to select
Geographic Lat/Lon in your output because it is considered a coordinate system, not a true map
projection.
2. Ensure that the Datum is WGS-84, the Units are Meters, and the Zone is 12.
3. Leave the X/Y Pixel Size fields as-is. ENVI Classic will use the pixel sizes of the input
QuickBird images.
4. Select an output filename and location for the orthorectified product.
5. Click Finish. ENVI Classic builds the orthorectified image and adds it to the Available Bands
List where you can choose to display it. This process will take a long time, as the two QuickBird
images are very large. Following is a true-color version of the output mosaic as it appears in the
Scroll window:

By default, the 05OCT* image (the eastern image) was at the top of the Image Order list back in
the Image Order & Cutline Selection step. So in the area of overlap between the two images, the
05OCT* image is ordered above the 05JUL* image. You can see this in the above figure.
6. Select File > Exit from the Wizard menu bar. You will be prompted to save the state of the
orthorectificaton process in case you want to resume work later.

Optional Step
If you have some extra time, you may want to experiment with skipping the steps of adding GCPs and tie
points altogether, then re-running the orthorectification process. Compare the RMSE value of the overall
model with no GCPs or tie points.

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GCPs and tie points should have a quality that is consistently better than the initial accuracy of the
sensor model; this varies with data type and vendor. For example, mid-latitude QuickBird scenes of a
relatively flat area may provide an accurate orthorectification without the use of GCPs or tie points.

Copyright Notice:
ENVI Classic is a registered trademark of Exelis Inc.
QUAC and FLAASH are registered trademarks of Spectral Sciences, Inc.

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