3D MAPPING OF PLEASANT CREEK, CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK

Capitol Reef National Park lies in south-central Utah on the Waterpocket Fold and holds within it an array of geomorphologic features. Small communities near the park are historically based on small ranching, farming, and some mining operations. Little research has been done in this area, particularly with respect to the river morphology and sediment distribution and transport on the perennial rivers flowing in the National Park. In this project, we mapped in-channel geometry on a reach of Pleasant Creek using surveying and remote sensing to produce 3D imagery with structure from motion software. We also collected sediment samples to map distribution and model mobility. We produced a DEM from the 3D imagery for future geomorphic change detection analysis for long term change modeling.

Pleasant Creek flows through the Park adjacent to Utah Valley University’s Capitol Reef Field Station over a mixed gravel to sand sized substrate. The creek’s proximity to the field station makes it accessible and monitoring results will be relevant to both the national park and courses held at the field station. For further visualization purposes, we used a GoPro camera attached to a pole to video the stream channel before and after a small flash flood had passed through the reach. This research will serve as data for the National Park Service in managing one of the few perennial streams in the park and aid in educational purposes at the field station.