For our workflow, we do not need our orthomosaics to carry elevation values (other programs we use will create their own DSM from the point cloud that they will “drape” the ortho over).
Therefore I have turned off DSM generation in the past to save processing time (it is a significant savings). I have not noticed either a quantitative or qualitative difference for our purposes, but recently I have been told that the DSM is used for more than applying elevation values in the ortho. However, nobody can tell me what exactly the DSM is used for besides elevation values and the help articles are vague (just saying that a noisy DSM creates anomalies in the ortho).
So what, exactly, is the DSM used for when generating the ortho, given that it is possible to generate the ortho without it?
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