Rates of Natural Subsidence along the Texas Coast Derived from GPS and Tide Gauge Measurements (1904–2020)

Zhou, Xin; Wang, Guoquan; Wang, Kuan; Liu, Hanlin; Lyu, Hai‐Min; Turco, Michael J.

doi:10.1061/(asce)su.1943-5428.0000371

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…6 and 8). Severe drought and flooding events also could cause step-like ground deformation in the vertical direction (e.g., Zhou et al 2021).…”

Section: Detecting Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The last change point is a minor step (<2 mm) that barely can be verified visually. The first three steps were related to the prolonged drought in southern Texas from fall 2010 to spring 2015 (Zhou et al 2021). The GNSS-derived site velocity has returned to the predrought level (i.e., before 2011) since 2016.…”

Section: Detecting Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…TXGA is located on Galveston Island. According to Zhou et al (2021), the ongoing subsidence of approximately 2.0 mm=year ] is dominated by the natural compaction of deep aquifers (Evangeline and Jasper). The peak-to-trough amplitude of the seasonal subsidence and uplift at this site is 1.6 mm, which is almost invisible from the time series.…”

Section: Seasonal Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hardware, software, and firmware work together to build a sophisticated regional geodetic infrastructure for high-accuracy and high-precision GNSS monitoring. HoustonNet data and its products have been used widely by researchers from subsidence districts, the USGS, universities, and private consulting companies for subsidence (e.g., Engelkemeir et al 2010;Bawden et al 2012;Qu et al 2015;Yu and Wang 2016;Thornhill and Keester 2020), faulting (e.g., Khan et al 2014;Liu et al 2019;Qu et al 2019), coastal flooding (e.g., Shirzaei 2019, 2021), and sea-level change studies (e.g., Liu et al 2020;Zhou et al 2021). Data analysis methods have been mentioned sporadically in previous publications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Houston GNSS Network for Subsidence and Faulting Monitoring: Data Analysis Methods and Products

Wang

Greuter

Petersen³

et al. 2022

J. Surv. Eng.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Harris-Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD), in collaboration with several other agencies, has been operating a dense Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network for subsidence and faulting monitoring within the Greater Houston region since the early 1990s. The GNSS network is designated HoustonNet, comprising approximately 250 permanent GNSS stations as of 2021. This paper documents the methods used to produce position time series, transform coordinates from the global to regional reference frames, identify outliers and steps, analyze seasonal movements, and estimate site velocities and uncertainties. The GNSS positioning methods presented in this paper achieve 2-4-mm RMS accuracy for daily positions in the north-south and east-west directions and 5-8-mm accuracy in the vertical direction within the Greater Houston region. Five-year or longer continuous observations are able to achieve submillimeter-per-year uncertainties (95% confidence interval) for both horizontal and vertical site velocities. Two decades of GNSS observations indicate that Katy in Fort Bend County, Jersey Village in northwestern Harris County, and The Woodlands in southern Montgomery County have been the areas most affected by subsidence (1-2 cm=year) since the 2000s; the overall subsidence rate and the size of subsiding area (>5 mm=year) have been decreasing as a result of the groundwater regulations enforced by HGSD and other local agencies. HoustonNet data and products are released to the public through HGSD. The primary products are the daily East-North-Up (ENU) position time series and site velocities with respect to the International GNSS Service (IGS) Reference Frame 2014 (IGS14), the stable Gulf of Mexico Reference Frame (GOM20), and the stable Houston Reference Frame (Houston20). The ENU position time series with respect to Houston20 are recommended for delineating subsidence and faulting within the Greater Houston region. The ENU time series with respect to GOM20 are recommended for studying subsidence and faulting within the Gulf coastal plain and sea-level changes along the Gulf Coast. The entire HoustonNet data set is reprocessed every a few years with updated positioning software, IGS and regional reference frames, and data analysis tools. We recommend that users use the most recent release of HoustonNet data products and avoid mixing old and new positions.

show abstract

“…6 and 8). Severe drought and flooding events also could cause step-like ground deformation in the vertical direction (e.g., Zhou et al 2021).…”

Section: Detecting Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Detecting Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Seasonal Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Houston GNSS Network for Subsidence and Faulting Monitoring: Data Analysis Methods and Products

Wang

Greuter

Petersen³

et al. 2022

J. Surv. Eng.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In practice, it is difficult to precisely assess the rate of natural subsidence before the anthropogenic subsidence and rebound have ceased. According to Zhou et al (2021), the rate of natural subsidence is about 3 mm/year in the coastal area of Galveston, where the thickness of the unconsolidated sediments is the largest among the 600-km-long Texas coastal areas. The rate of natural subsidence would be smaller inland because the total thickness of unconsolidated sediments gets smaller towards the inland.…”

Section: The Concept Of New Preconsolidation Headmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Preconsolidation Heads Following the Long‐Term Hydraulic‐Head Decline and Recovery in Houston, Texas

Wang¹

2022

Groundwater

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Houston area in Texas, United States, has been experiencing land subsidence for a century from the 1920s to 2010s. A substantial portion of the Houston area had finished a consolidation cycle following the long‐term hydraulic head decline and recovery. A new “maximum effective stress” (preconsolidation stress) was preserved in the memory of the aquitards. For an aquifer system comprising aquifers and aquitards, the preconsolidation stress is corresponding to the lowest hydraulic head in the aquitards, not in the aquifers. Preconsolidation head is generally regarded as a groundwater‐level threshold below which inelastic compaction begins. The preconsolidation head finalized after the long‐term hydraulic head decline and recovery is called new preconsolidation head. This study has developed an empirical equation for projecting the new preconsolidation head. According to this study, the new preconsolidation heads in the primary aquifers (lower Chicot and Evangeline) are local specific: varying from about 30 m below land surface (−30 m) in the south to −50 m in the north of the Harris‐Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD) Regulatory Area 1, from −60 m in the east to −80 m in the west of Area 2, and from −70 m in the south to −100 m in the center of Area 3. In Areas 1 and 2, the current hydraulic heads are about 10 m to 20 m higher than the local new preconsolidation heads; thus, remarkable land subsidence (>1 cm/year) would not be reinitiated unless the hydraulic heads are to fall below the local new preconsolidation head.

show abstract

Sentinel-1 InSAR-derived land subsidence assessment along the Texas Gulf Coast

Qiao,

Chu,

Tissot

et al. 2023

International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinfor

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rates of Natural Subsidence along the Texas Coast Derived from GPS and Tide Gauge Measurements (1904–2020)

Cited by 21 publications

References 51 publications

Houston GNSS Network for Subsidence and Faulting Monitoring: Data Analysis Methods and Products

Houston GNSS Network for Subsidence and Faulting Monitoring: Data Analysis Methods and Products

New Preconsolidation Heads Following the Long‐Term Hydraulic‐Head Decline and Recovery in Houston, Texas

Sentinel-1 InSAR-derived land subsidence assessment along the Texas Gulf Coast

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About