Abstract: The present invention provides a method for approximating the location of a point of interest relative to a three dimensional coordinate system, the method including the steps of: orientating a camera toward the point of interest such that the point of interest can be seen within a camera view; retrieving camera data including a location relative to the three dimensional coordinate system, and a camera position including a camera heading and a camera tilt; querying an associated topographic map database to identify one or more coordinates located on the topographic map along the camera heading to form a first dataset; computing one or more coordinates located on a radial plane between the camera and the point of interest based on the camera heading and camera tilt to form a second dataset; and comparing the first dataset with the second dataset to identify a pair of matching coordinates; wherein the matching coordinates represent the three dimensional coordinate location of the point of interest.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for approximating the location of a point of interest relative to a three dimensional coordinate system, the method including the steps of: orientating a camera toward the point of interest such that the point of interest can be seen within a camera view; retrieving camera data including a location relative to the three dimensional coordinate system, and a camera position including a camera heading and a camera tilt; querying an associated topographic map database to identify one or more coordinates located on the topographic map along the camera heading to form a first dataset; computing one or more coordinates located on a radial plane between the camera and the point of interest based on the camera heading and camera tilt to form a second dataset; and comparing the first dataset with the second dataset to identify a pair of matching coordinates; wherein the matching coordinates represent the three dimensional coordinate location of the point of interest.