Land Use Change of Las Vegas, Nevada

Charles N. Hahn

UP 507-W

Project Objectives

Use satellite imagery along with other GIS datasets to show land use and population change for the Las Vegas Valley area over a substantial amount of time covering the beginning of Las Vegas to modern day

The first resort opened in 1941and was called the El Rancho

Why Las Vegas?According to the U.S. Census Bureau LV is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the U.S.From 1990 to 2000 their population change was + 83.3%This type of population growth can put a major strain on an area that is already a very dry regionThis amount of growth makes it a very exciting place to do land use/land cover analysis

Data1972 MSS path 35 row 39 image1992 MSS path 35 row 39 image1999 ETM+ path 35 row 39 imageUSGS dem for the covered area consisting of 4 quad sheetsSpreadsheets of population data from U.S. Census BureauTiger road filesPersonally collected GPS datasets for ground truthMany ArcInfo data sets from the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program through a USGS contact including hotels, geological cover, vegetative cover, etc…

1972 MSS

1992 MSS

1999 ETM+

USGS dem

Geo age

Tiger roads

soils

Tiger roads

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

people

Population from U.S. Census

Flow Chart

Tools to be UsedArcGIS and ArcInfo for projectionsIntergraph MGE for GIS workMicrostation for editing vector filesErdas Imagine for classificationVirtual GIS to build a 3d flythroughER Mapper for classification and 3d workMacromedia Flash, Freehand, Fireworks, Director, and Dreamweaver for Web designAdobe Photoshop for graphics work