GLG410--Computers in Earth and Space Exploration


Announcements Syllabus Schedule Weekly lecture notes Assignments Links

Structure from Motion: 3D modeling for earth and space science applications

Structure from Motion is a transformative method of photogrammetry which enables us to build 3D models of objects of interest of any size given sufficient photographic/imagery coverage from a range of view points.
Here is a microdocumentary made by my friend Merri Lisa Trigilio:

Structure From Motion from Merri Lisa Trigilio on Vimeo.

My research group has used this methodology (we learned it from Professor Saripalli's group. Here are a few blog posts with some recent results:

Here is a link to an overview presentation from Prof Edwin Nissen at Colorado School of Mines (former ASU PostDoc).
Here are two sample datasets to play with:

The main piece of software we have been using is Agisoft Photoscan Professional. You should download the professional version from here. The free version has basic functionality. Other software that can do this includes

Assignment 16: Structure from Motion model

In this assignment, please build a 3D model of an object of your choice with some earth or space science relevance using Structure from Motion techniques.
You should take pictures yourself of an object of your choice (can use a smart phone or a regular camera). Or, you may use the sample data I provided above (
El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake Photos or ERI Seismometer SfM sample data).
Turn in a short (<5 minutes) ERI Seismometer SfM sample datavideo demonstrating the resulting model (with all 4 data products--sparse cloud, dense cloud, mesh, and texture map) and turn on and off the trackball and cameras to make things easier to see.
Here is a video demonstration:



Tuesday, December 8 by 5 pm


Last modified: December 1, 2015