A test result on the positional accuracy of Kompsat-3A beta test images

KOMPSAT-3A (KOrea Multi-Purpose SATellite-3A) was launched in March 25 2015 with specification of 0.5 meters resolution panchromatic and four 2.2 meters resolution multi spectral sensors in 12km swath width at nadir. To better understand KOMPSAT-3A positional accuracy, this paper reports a test result on the accuracy of recently released KOMPSAT-3A beta test images. A number of ground points were acquired from 1:1,000 digital topographic maps over the target area for the accuracy validation. First, the original RPCs (Rational Polynomial Coefficients) were validated without any GCPs (Ground Control Points). Then we continued the test by modeling the errors in the image space using shift-only, shift and drift, and the affine model. Ground restitution accuracy was also analyzed even though the across track image pairs do not have optimal convergence angle. The experimental results showed that the shift and drift-based RPCs correction was optimal showing comparable accuracy of less than 1.5 pixels with less GCPs compared to the affine model.