[gdal-dev] RPC Transform Error: ERROR 1: latitude or longitude exceeded limits

[Claire Porter]

I sometimes get the error message "ERROR 1: latitude or longitude exceeded
limits" when using gdalwarp with Quickbird, Worldview and Geoeye images
using RPCs, both with and without a DEM.  Sometimes I also get the error
message "ERROR 1: Too many points (441 out of 441) failed to transform,
unable to compute output bounds".  Both errors suggest that the RPC
transformations are not working, sometimes often enough for the process to
completely fail and sometimes enough only to make the output extent really
bogus.

Using the config option CHECK_WITH_INVERT_PROJ=TRUE does not help.  Nor
does setting the center long with the CENTER_LONG config option.  Nor does
using WGS84 as the target coordinate system.  When I run gdalwarp with
--debug on, I get up to 88,000 lines like these:

RPC: Iterations 10: Got: 153.057,-43.5705  Offset=-88416.5,407.11
RPC: Iterations 10: Got: 34.9369,156.643  Offset=-328767,-402.914
ERROR 1: latitude or longitude exceeded limits

I am a python coder, not a C++ guru, but looking through the underlying
code it seems that even after the maximum 10 iterations the RPC inverse
transform cannot get close to the correct pixel/line value (see the
function RPCInverseTransformPoint).  Any ideas what is wrong with these
RPCs?

My images are almost entirely in polar regions (above 60 and below -60),
but not near the poles themselves.  Only about 5% of the images fail.  I am
running on both the 1.8 gdal build for OSGeo4w and also on a 1.9 linux
build made by our Sys Admin.  Both builds have the same error.   The images
will orthorectify correctly using ERDAS.  I can provide debug output files
and sample images if necessary.

Example syntax: gdalwarp --debug ON -t_srs EPSG:3031 -rpc -to
"RPC_DEM=y:/dem/RAMPv2_osu91a200m.tif"
QB02_05OCT222204548-M1BS-10100100049A4300.ntf QB02_10oct22_3031.tif

Thank you,
Claire

-- 
Claire Porter
Remote Sensing Scientist
Polar Geospatial Center
University of Minnesota
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