Determination Of Texas’ Highest Peaks
INTRODUCTION:
Guadalupe Peak
Bush Mountain
Hunter Peak
Mount Pratt
El Capitan (From Front)
El Capitan (From Back)
Conrad Blucher Institute for
Surveying and Science
METHODS:
Texas is a large, sprawling State known for its size and its diverse landscape;
however, many times its mountainous terrain is overlooked or unknown of. Because of
this reason, several students of Texas A & M University – Corpus Christi in the
Geographic Information Science program decided to take this project on. The idea for
this project originated within the Geographic Information Science Student Organization
(GISSO) with several students guided by the help of Dr. Stacey Lyle (RPLS), a
professor of the University and researcher at the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying
and Science. Several goals for this project were decided upon. The first being to
determine the top ten highest peaks in the State of Texas. This would be carried out by
researching what are thought to be the highest of these peaks in the State. After this, the
students would then use a high accuracy means of surveying techniques to record precise
locations and elevations on these positions. The second goal of this project was to
conclude how mountainous areas and large, drastic elevation changes affect the State’s
geoid model. Taking elevation measurements on these mountains would provide the
necessary data to accomplish this. Once the data was collected, we would then work
with the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), a branch of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to process and publish the results of our
measurements.
Several months of planning, mapping, researching, and logistical work lead up to
the actual survey of these mountains in May of 2009. Fifteen students preformed the
survey over a two-day span. After some research was preformed, the Guadalupe
Mountains National Park was found to be home to eight of the supposed peaks:
Guadalupe Peak (The Highest Point in Texas), Bush Mountain, Shumard Peak, Bartlett
Peak, Hunter Peak, Mount Pratt, Blue Ridge, and El Capitan. This would be the starting
place for this project.
Due to the level of precision that we were trying to establish
throughout this survey, high accuracy GPS receivers were acquired
through Altus GPS Positioning Systems. The process required with these
units was to get each GPS receiver to simultaneously collect static data
from the same epoch of satellites for an extended amount of time to
ensure optimum precision. When such measurements are taken in this
fashion, the highest amount of reliability can be established. In addition
to the receivers positioned on the peaks, an additional Trimble GPS
receiver would be collecting the same static data upon a National
Geodetic Survey (NGS) monument a short distance away from the base
of the mountains. Receiving a measurement on this location, gives the
ability to tie down the data received on top of the mountains relative to
what is at the normal elevation, as well as the surrounding network of
monuments. Twelve (12) hours was the desired length of time for each of
these measurements to collect data. Two sets of six hour intervals were
required due to battery constraints.
GPS Instrument on Guadalupe Peak
RESULTS:
The data for the previously published heights was collected from old topographic quad-maps and NGS
data sheets, which were all scaled decades before our research had begun. These prior measurements had
all been done without precise technologies such as GPS or even electronic surveying instruments.
Because of this, it was assumed that these measurements could be significantly off from their actual
elevations; however, this was not necessarily the result. Upon completion of the field survey, the data was
processed through NGS’s Online Positioning User Service (OPUS). In this program, large collections of
RAW GPS data can be inputted and run through a series of mathematical equations: averaging which
produces the best result in relation to other high accuracy GPS locations. This can be accomplished by
triangulating the data you input with Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), which are fixed
GPS receivers that are always collecting data on a single location. When the data collected from our
survey was run through the OPUS process, we discovered that despite the out-dated methods used to
determine the previously scaled values for the mountains, many of the peaks were in fact quite close to the
elevation we established. However, that was not completely the case as you can see from the results
displayed in the chart. Although Guadalupe Peak and Bush Mountain, the tallest of the mountains, were
nearly right on, areas such as El Capitan were up to five meters in difference, which is close to fifteen feet.
In addition to this, Hunter Peak and Mount Pratt were discovered to be at more intermediate differences
with just a couple meters of variation. Due to difficulties with the weather we were not able to collect data
for Blue Ridge Peak, Bartlett Peak and Shumard Peak.
Location
Guadalupe Peak
Bush Mountain
Hunter Peak
Mount Pratt
El Capitan
Base Point
Duration of Data
Collection
11:01
13:67
10:29
5:59
5:58
19:13
Previously Published
Elevation (m)
2667 m
2631 m
2550 m
2543 m
2464 m
1402.469 m
Newly Established
Elevation (m)
2667.488 m
2631.523 m
2553.521 m
2544.463 m
2469.065 m
1402.459 m
Newly Established
Elevation (ft)
8751.601 ft
8633.605 ft
8377.693 ft
8347.975 ft
8100.607 ft
4601.243 ft
CONCLUSION:
Although several months have gone by since the collection of the data,
there are still many parts of this project being continued. The Conrad Blucher
Institute continues to work with the National Geodetic Survey to aid in the
implementation of their newest form of the OPUS program, OPUS-Data
Base. This program allows users to input data that they have collected and
processed into a work sheet showing all of the detailed information, including
a map of the area and reference images to aid in recovering the location at a
later date if needed. This project has brought attention to the University in
new and more diverse ways, through working with the National Park Service,
creating a working relationship between surveying students at the University
and federal programs such as NOAA and NGS, and giving the University and
the GIS program recognition through multiple publications throughout the
state. In addition to this, the data collected in this project continues to create a
more precise geoid in the mountainous regions in the West Texas area.
Authors: Travis Wachtstetter, Derek Snoga
References:
Elevations based off of North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88)
The 3 Heights. [Online Image] Retrieved on October 8, 2009 http://www.geod.nrcan.gc.ca/tools-outils/gpsh_e.php
What is Opus? [Online Image] Retrieved on October 8, 2009 http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/OPUS/about.html
Survey Datasheet, El Capitan. [Online Image] Retrieved on October 8, 2009 http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS-Proxy/oraOpusDbWeb/getDatasheet.jsp?PID=BBBM08