Forensic Engineering Comparison of Two & Three Dimensional Photogrammetric Accident Analysis

One of the challenges for an accident reconstructionist is to create accurate scene diagrams from photographs.

There are several software packages on the market today that allow engineers to gather dimensions from photographs through photogrammetric analysis. However, not all photogrammetric software performs the same functions.

In short, the software is classified as either two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) photogrammetric software. 2-D data from the scene such as the length of lane lines and/or the width of the road-way. 3-D software needs more data to perform the rectification, and without additional data, the photogrammetric analysis can be inaccurate.

The strength of the 3-D photogrammetric spftware is its ability to create scaled three-dimensional computer models. This paper discusses the application of 2-D and 3-D photogrammetry in accident analysis and reconstruction.