LANDSAT MSS Coordinate Transformations

Abstract

A number of image analysis tasks require the registration of a surface model with an image. In the case of satellite images, the surface model may be a map or digital terrain model in the form of surface elevations on a grid of points. We develop here an affine transformation between coordinates of Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) images produced by the LANDSAT satellites, and coordinates of a system lying in a plane tangent to the earth's surface near the sub-satellite (Nadir) point.