{"id":{"repo_id":"houston","oai_identifier":"oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/490"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/houston/oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/490","repository":{"repo_id":"houston","name":"University of Houston","base_url":"https://uh-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Delineating the Trace and Kinematics of the Long Point Fault in Houston, Texas using LiDAR Data and Continuous GPS Data","abstract":"The Houston metropolitan area, and more broadly the Gulf Coast in general, has numerous normal faults that have caused damage to anthropogenic structures on or near the Earth's surface. These faults offset soft sediments, and as a result very little seismic energy is accumulated to produce destructive earthquakes. However, creeping along these faults causes moderate to severe damage to hundreds of residential, commercial, and industrial structures that are part of the infrastructure in the Houston area. The damages require constant repairs that burden private citizens, businesses, and government agencies. Precise surface traces of these faults are notoriously difficult to map due to the easily eroded lithology and constant reworking of the surface by human activities. In this case study, LiDAR data collected from the 2001 Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project was used to distinguish the precise trace of the Long Point Fault, which is a well-known active fault that spans much of the northwest and west part of the Houston metropolitan area. To determine the kinematics of the Long Point Fault, 11 Continuous GPS (CGPS) stations were installed along most of the fault. All of these CGPS stations were mounted on concrete or masonry buildings. The CGPS stations are within close proximity to each other. The average distance between them is 4.8 km. The sites are on both the footwall (6) and the hanging wall (5). All sites are within 1 km of the fault surface trace. The average distance from the fault is 0.33 km. GPS data were processed using both Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Double Difference (DD) methods; the PPP solutions were converted to the Stable Houston Reference Frame (SHRF) from the original IGS08 reference frame. The double difference solutions show a slight relative movement between the UTEX site and HCC2 site in the north-south direction. The PPP results imply a slight common displacement trend in the east-west direction in the study area since 2013, which may be a segment of a periodical seasonal (annual or semi-annual) movement or a movement associated with fault creeping. A longer history of continuous observations (e.g. >3 years) will help to precisely delineate the kinematics of the Long Point Fault.","abstract_html":"The Houston metropolitan area, and more broadly the Gulf Coast in general, has numerous normal faults that have caused damage to anthropogenic structures on or near the Earth's surface. These faults offset soft sediments, and as a result very little seismic energy is accumulated to produce destructive earthquakes. However, creeping along these faults causes moderate to severe damage to hundreds of residential, commercial, and industrial structures that are part of the infrastructure in the Houston area. The damages require constant repairs that burden private citizens, businesses, and government agencies. Precise surface traces of these faults are notoriously difficult to map due to the easily eroded lithology and constant reworking of the surface by human activities. In this case study, LiDAR data collected from the 2001 Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project was used to distinguish the precise trace of the Long Point Fault, which is a well-known active fault that spans much of the northwest and west part of the Houston metropolitan area. To determine the kinematics of the Long Point Fault, 11 Continuous GPS (CGPS) stations were installed along most of the fault. All of these CGPS stations were mounted on concrete or masonry buildings. The CGPS stations are within close proximity to each other. The average distance between them is 4.8 km. The sites are on both the footwall (6) and the hanging wall (5). All sites are within 1 km of the fault surface trace. The average distance from the fault is 0.33 km. GPS data were processed using both Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Double Difference (DD) methods; the PPP solutions were converted to the Stable Houston Reference Frame (SHRF) from the original IGS08 reference frame. The double difference solutions show a slight relative movement between the UTEX site and HCC2 site in the north-south direction. The PPP results imply a slight common displacement trend in the east-west direction in the study area since 2013, which may be a segment of a periodical seasonal (annual or semi-annual) movement or a movement associated with fault creeping. A longer history of continuous observations (e.g. >3 years) will help to precisely delineate the kinematics of the Long Point Fault.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Saenz, Gabriel J. 1983-"],"institution":"University of Houston","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Geology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Wang, Guoquan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Van Wijk, Jolante W.","Glennie, Craig L."],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-08","date_published":"2013-08","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:33:06Z","subjects":["GPS","LiDAR","Long Point Fault"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s)."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10657/490","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Wang, Guoquan"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Van Wijk, Jolante W.","Glennie, Craig L."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Saenz, Gabriel J. 1983-"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-12-02T23:26:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-12-02T23:26:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-08"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Geology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Houston"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["GPS","LiDAR","Long Point Fault"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s)."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10657/490"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Houston metropolitan area, and more broadly the Gulf Coast in general, has numerous normal faults that have caused damage to anthropogenic structures on or near the Earth's surface. These faults offset soft sediments, and as a result very little seismic energy is accumulated to produce destructive earthquakes. However, creeping along these faults causes moderate to severe damage to hundreds of residential, commercial, and industrial structures that are part of the infrastructure in the Houston area. The damages require constant repairs that burden private citizens, businesses, and government agencies. Precise surface traces of these faults are notoriously difficult to map due to the easily eroded lithology and constant reworking of the surface by human activities. In this case study, LiDAR data collected from the 2001 Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project was used to distinguish the precise trace of the Long Point Fault, which is a well-known active fault that spans much of the northwest and west part of the Houston metropolitan area. To determine the kinematics of the Long Point Fault, 11 Continuous GPS (CGPS) stations were installed along most of the fault. All of these CGPS stations were mounted on concrete or masonry buildings. The CGPS stations are within close proximity to each other. The average distance between them is 4.8 km. The sites are on both the footwall (6) and the hanging wall (5). All sites are within 1 km of the fault surface trace. The average distance from the fault is 0.33 km. GPS data were processed using both Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Double Difference (DD) methods; the PPP solutions were converted to the Stable Houston Reference Frame (SHRF) from the original IGS08 reference frame. The double difference solutions show a slight relative movement between the UTEX site and HCC2 site in the north-south direction. The PPP results imply a slight common displacement trend in the east-west direction in the study area since 2013, which may be a segment of a periodical seasonal (annual or semi-annual) movement or a movement associated with fault creeping. A longer history of continuous observations (e.g. >3 years) will help to precisely delineate the kinematics of the Long Point Fault."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Delineating the Trace and Kinematics of the Long Point Fault in Houston, Texas using LiDAR Data and Continuous GPS Data"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Wang, Guoquan"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Van Wijk, Jolante W.","Glennie, Craig L."],"dc:creator":["Saenz, Gabriel J. 1983-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-12-02T23:26:22Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-12-02T23:26:22Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-08"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Houston metropolitan area, and more broadly the Gulf Coast in general, has numerous normal faults that have caused damage to anthropogenic structures on or near the Earth's surface. These faults offset soft sediments, and as a result very little seismic energy is accumulated to produce destructive earthquakes. However, creeping along these faults causes moderate to severe damage to hundreds of residential, commercial, and industrial structures that are part of the infrastructure in the Houston area. The damages require constant repairs that burden private citizens, businesses, and government agencies. Precise surface traces of these faults are notoriously difficult to map due to the easily eroded lithology and constant reworking of the surface by human activities. In this case study, LiDAR data collected from the 2001 Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project was used to distinguish the precise trace of the Long Point Fault, which is a well-known active fault that spans much of the northwest and west part of the Houston metropolitan area. To determine the kinematics of the Long Point Fault, 11 Continuous GPS (CGPS) stations were installed along most of the fault. All of these CGPS stations were mounted on concrete or masonry buildings. The CGPS stations are within close proximity to each other. The average distance between them is 4.8 km. The sites are on both the footwall (6) and the hanging wall (5). All sites are within 1 km of the fault surface trace. The average distance from the fault is 0.33 km. GPS data were processed using both Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Double Difference (DD) methods; the PPP solutions were converted to the Stable Houston Reference Frame (SHRF) from the original IGS08 reference frame. The double difference solutions show a slight relative movement between the UTEX site and HCC2 site in the north-south direction. The PPP results imply a slight common displacement trend in the east-west direction in the study area since 2013, which may be a segment of a periodical seasonal (annual or semi-annual) movement or a movement associated with fault creeping. A longer history of continuous observations (e.g. >3 years) will help to precisely delineate the kinematics of the Long Point Fault."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10657/490"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:rights":["The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s)."],"dc:subject":["GPS","LiDAR","Long Point Fault"],"dc:title":["Delineating the Trace and Kinematics of the Long Point Fault in Houston, Texas using LiDAR Data and Continuous GPS Data"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Geology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Houston"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:33:06Z"}