The paper presents a new solution for the automatic orientation of metric images using spatial tie objects. The use of tie objects avoids problems being inevitable, when planar tie points are projected under oblique views into an image or when the view angles are differing strongly for different images. Spatial tie objects however, are visible from any viewing direction and allow a sure identification. Algorithms have been developed allowing to detect and localise such spatial tie objects automatically and will be presented here. The principal functionality will be shown and practical examples demonstrate the correctness of the conception.

Mots-clés : pattern recognition, image orientation, image analysis, colour image data, spatial tie objects failure of an orientation.