Ground control requirements for precision processing of ERTS images

When the first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-A) flies in 1972, NASA expects to receive and bulk-process 9,000 images a week. From this deluge of images, a few will be selected for precision processing; that is, about 5 percent will be further treated to improve the geometry of the scene, both in the relative and absolute sense. Control points are required for this processing. This paper describes the control requirements for relating ERTS images to a reference surface of the earth. Enough background on the ERTS-A satellite is included to make the requirements meaningful to the user.