CARS, a satellite multi view stereo framework

Overview • Quick Start • Documentation • License • Contribution • Help • Credits • Contact • References

🎞️ From Stereo Images Input stereo image pairs

🌍 To Digital Surface Model (DSM) Output 3D surface reconstruction

CARS is an open source 3D tool dedicated to produce Digital Surface Models from satellite imaging by photogrammetry. This Multiview Stereo framework is intended for massive DSM production with a robust, performant and modular design.

CARS is currently under active development and integrated into various projects & missions:

Its roadmap and implemented functionalities are evolving regularly depending on specific project requirements.

You want to build the pyramids by yourself?

Download our open licence Pleiades data sample to give CARS a try!

CARS is available on Docker Hub and can be downloaded by:

docker pull cnes/cars

You only need to launch one command:

docker run -w /data -v "$(pwd)"/data_gizeh:/data cnes/cars /data/configfile.yaml

CARS can also be downloaded using the pip install command:

pip install cars 

Once you moved to the data_gizeh directory:

cars configfile.yaml

Go to CARS Main Documentation.

CARS is licensed under Apache License v2.0. Please refer to the LICENSE file for more details.

To do a contribution, see the Contribution Guide. For project evolution, see Changelog.

For issues, questions, or feature requests, please open an issue on our GitHub Issues page or check the documentation for additional resources.

You can also ask your questions on the corresponding slack.

If you use CARS in your research, please cite the following paper:

@Article{isprs-archives-XLIX-B2-2026-593-2026,
AUTHOR = {Youssefi, D. and Bellet, V. and Steux, Y. and Roux, M. and Traizet, C. and Rassat, M. and Calendini, T.},
TITLE = {CARS: A Photogrammetric Pipeline for Global 3D Reconstruction using Satellite Imagery},
JOURNAL = {The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences},
VOLUME = {XLIX-B2-2026},
YEAR = {2026},
PAGES = {593--600},
URL = {https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B2-2026/593/2026/},
DOI = {10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIX-B2-2026-593-2026}
}

See Authors file

You can contact us on the following mail adress: cars@cnes.fr

• Youssefi D., Michel, J., Sarrazin, E., Buffe, F., Cournet, M., Delvit, J., L’Helguen, C., Melet, O., Emilien, A., Bosman, J., 2020. Cars: A photogrammetry pipeline using dask graphs to construct a global 3d model. IGARSS - IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.
• Michel, J., Sarrazin, E., Youssefi, D., Cournet, M., Buffe, F., Delvit, J., Emilien, A., Bosman, J., Melet, O., L’Helguen, C., 2020. A new satellite imagery stereo pipeline designed for scalability, robustness and performance. ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences.
• Youssefi, D., Bellet, V., Steux, Y., Roux, M., Traizet, C., Rassat, M., Calendini, T., 2026. CARS: A Photogrammetric Pipeline for Global 3D Reconstruction using Satellite Imagery. ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences.