The current developments in photogrammetry software enable to obtain more detailed and higher resolution photoproducts in a shorter period of time. In addition to that, digital orthophoto production has become more automated, making the operator's task relatively easy. The present research investigates to which extent software automation affects the accuracy of aerial triangulation and geometric quality of orthophoto mosaic based on digital frame aerial camera UltraCAM D images. For this purpose, two separate projects were carried out: the first project examined the accuracy of aerial triangulation (AT) and the second one the geometric quality of the mosaic. The first project involved making two photo blocks: one with automatic and another with manual AT. In the second project, 3 orthophoto mosaics were made: one with fully automated processing steps for orthophoto production, the second with semi-automated steps with automatic AT and DEM correction, and the third one with manual steps. The Mean Root Square Error (RMS) quality of both projects was analyzed using ground control points. Both photo blocks of the first project didn't exceed the permitted size (RMS ≤ 0.45 m). The geometric accuracy of the manual AT was 0.094 m and that of the automatic AT was 0.415 m. The analysis of the geometric quality of the mosaics (second project) showed that geometrically the most accurate is the mosaic made with manual processing steps. The RMS was 0.308 m. The RMS of the semiautomatic mosaic was 0.335 m. The full-automatic mosaic was not within the permitted size: its RMS was 1.805.

The photogrammetric products, especially orthophotos, have become an important part of spatial databases, considering the modern technical development. The demand for more detailed photos and better resolutions is growing, which gives rise to the demand for photos with higher precision available as quickly as possible. Photogrammetric software used for producing ortophotos enables making some phases of orthophotos automatically. But every phase affects the quality of the final product. The question arises-How much can we use the automatic steps of the software for creating digital orthophotos if we want to keep the quality that is requested by users? For the answer of the before-mentioned question 4 orthophoto mosaics were made differing by their processing method, i. e. automated or manual processing. For that photographs made by a digital frame aerial camera UltraCam D were used as well as the photogrammetric software Photomod version 5.1 made in Russia. For the analysis the geometrical quality of each mosaic was investigated by ground control points measured in nature and on the mosaics. The accuracy is given by RMS not bigger than 0.45 meters. Three orthophoto mosaics were according to the given precision. The most geometrically accurate mosaic's RMS was 0.308 m which is calculated in turn with the error 0.069 m in the manual project. Only the mosaic of the full-automatic project was not in the permitted size, the RMS was 1.805 m.