a method for inferring precise sensor attitude information in a tracking sensor system begins with storing at a first time a reference image in a memory associated with tracking sensor . next , the method includes sensing at a second time a second image . the sensed image comprises a plurality of sensed feature locations . the method further includes determining the position of the tracking sensor at the second time relative to its position at the first time and then forming a correlation between the sensed feature locations and the predetermined feature locations as a function of the relative position . the method results in an estimation of a tracking sensor pose that is calculated as a function of the correlation . because the method is primarily computational , implementation requires no new hardware in a tracking sensor system other than that which may be required to provide additional computational capacity .