Accuracy Assessment of UAV Photogrammetry System with RTK Measurements for Direct Georeferencing

Abstract

The direct georeferencing accuracy of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images with real-time kinematic (RTK) measurements is a concerned topic in the community of photogrammetry. This study assesses the capabilities of a multi-rotor platform equipped with RTK technology, specifically a DJI Phantom 4 RTK UAV, for robust direct georeferencing. The UAV surveyed a square and a building at Wuhan University to assess the accuracy and spatial consistency of direct georeferencing in close-range photography. We tested checkpoint errors under various ground control points (GCPs) configurations. The results show that without GCP, an analysis of 71 spatially distributed checkpoints produced a root mean square error (RMSE) of 5.58 cm in the Z direction. This finding indicates that RTK-equipped UAVs can achieve acceptable error margins even without using GCPs, thereby fulfilling the precision requirements for large-scale mapping.