Vector evaluation of triangulation camera parameters from star photographs

The orientation and focal length of triangulation cameras that are used for observing the motions of chemical tracers deposited in the upper atmoshere can be determined by applying vector and matrix methods. Position measurements on star calibration photographs of as few as five star images yield good estimates of parameter values and their standard deviation. Since the computations require input data from pairs or triplets rather than from individual stars, the stellar data are very efficiently utilized. The methods developed are well suited to implementation on digital data processors.