Patent attributes
A method and apparatus for determining a building/urban profile image location includes extracting a building/urban profile from an obtained image and comparing the image to a database of building/urban profiles. The database may be created by obtaining point cloud data sets scanned building/urban profiles, converting the obtained point cloud data sets to a corresponding 3D surface model, and creating the database of stored building/urban profiles viewed from multiple locations within each of the 3D surface models. By comparing the extracted building/urban profile image with the stored building/urban profiles contained within the database and finding a match the location from which the extracted building/urban profile image was taken can be determined.