LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Over the years of the Landsat program, the desert city of Las Vegas has gone through a massive growth spurt.
The outward expansion of the city over the last quarter of a century is shown here with two false-color Landsat
5 images (Aug. 3, 1984 and Nov. 2, 2011). The dark purple grid of city streets and the green of irrigated
vegetation grow out in every direction into the surrounding desert. These images were created using reflected
light from the shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and green portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES
When Landsat 7 imaged Dubai on July 6, 2000, the city was barely visible against the desert landscape. Long
straight roads swept down the coast, and a single harbor jutted into the Gulf. Though it seems small in this
image, the city was growing quickly as a trade center, oil producer and member of the United Arab Emirates.
Between 1973 and 2010, Dubai transformed entirely. In this Landsat 7 image, taken on Oct. 6, 2010, dense
gray city blocks are surrounded by plant-covered land, which is red. Artificial islands dot the coast. Dubai's
growth is built on tourism, trade, and oil.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
CHANDLER, ARIZONA
Over the last 25 years, Chandler, Arizona has traded its grid of fields for a grid of streets. Founded in 1912 on
cotton, grains, alfalfa, and ostrich farms, brown and green irrigated fields still dominate the region southeast of
Phoenix in this 1985 natural color image taken by Landsat 5.
By 2011, the blue-gray streets in this Landsat 5 image have taken over. Chandler's economy has shifted from
agriculture to manufacturing and electronics, and its population boomed from 30,000 people in 1980 to
236,000 in 2010.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
PEARL RIVER DELTA, CHINA
In 1979, China established two special economic zones around the Pearl River Delta, north of Honk Kong.
This image, taken by Landsat 3 on Oct. 19, 1979, shows that the region was rural when the zone was
established. Plant-covered land, which is red in this false-color image, dominates the scene. Square grids are
agriculture.
By Jan. 10, 2003, when Landsat 7 took this image, the Pearl River Delta was a densely populated urban
corridor with several large cities. the urban areas are gray in this image. The region is a major manufacturing
center with an economy the size of Taiwan's. As of 2010, the Pearl River Economic Zone has a population of
36 million people.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
TOKYO, JAPAN
Tokyo is the world's largest metropolitan region, home to nearly 37 million people. During the past two
decades, Tokyo's population has grown by more than 7 million. The city's growth has continued despite
Japan's overall stagnating population, mainly due to a continued trend of centralization -- citizens moving out
of the country and into the city.
Landsat 4 collected this first false-color image of Tokyo on Feb. 2, 1989. The upper half of Tokyo Bay is the
large water body visible in a dark blue. In the middle of the image, central Tokyo appears a deep purple just
north of the bay. Twenty-two years later, Landsat 5, captured this second image of Tokyo on April 5, 2011.
The urban reaches of metropolitan Tokyo have grown in both distance and density, as seen where the green
color of the vegetation has turned to pink and purple shades of urbanization. A major expansion of Tokyo's
Haneda Airport, can be seen south of the city, on land built out into the bay. The constant circular spot of green
in the dense city-center, visible on both images, is the Tokyo Imperial Palace and its gardens.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
TEHRAN, IRAN
Between 1985 and 2009, the population of Tehran, Iran, grew from 6 million and to just over 7 million. The
city's growth was spurred largely by migration from other parts of the country. in addition to being the hub of
government and associated public sector jobs, Tehran houses more than half of Iran's industry.
Landsat 5 acquired these false-color images of Tehran on Aug. 2, 1985 and July 19, 2009. The city is a web of
dark purple lines, vegetation is green and bare ground is pink and tan. The images were created using both
infrared and visible light to distinguish urban areas from the surrounding desert.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
"CHICAGOLAND," ILLINOIS
Forty miles west of downtown Chicago, the Fox River meanders its way through what has become the
westernmost reaches of metropolitan Chicago, where the sprawling metropolis meets the hinterlands. While
Chicago itself has seen a 7 percent population decline during the last decade, the population of its metropolitan
region, "Chicagoland," has steadily increased.
These two natural-color Landsat 5 images acquired a quarter-century apart, stand witness to the soaring growth
of this region. Aurora, Illinois' second largest city, is the silvery-green region to the left hugging the Fox River,
just south of the I-88 (North is to the right in this image); Carpentersville is found on the rightmost side, north
of the I-90. From 1985 to 2010 a development explosion can be seen as the browns of pasture lands give way
to the silvery-green suburban areas and large white-colored business districts spring up along and east of the
river. A major expansion of the Dupage Airport appears in the middle of the 2010 image, and the circularshaped region north of the I-88 and east of the Fox River, visible on both images, is the Department of
Energy's Fermilab. (More verdant vegetation colors of late-summer are found throughout the 2010 image.)
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Istanbul has been a bustling trade city for thousands of years. In this 1975 image, taken by Landsat, the city
centers on the Golden Horn, the estuary that flows into the Bosporus Strait at the center of the scene. Shown in
false color, the vegetation is red, urban areas are gray and water appears black. A bridge built in 1973 to
connect the Asian and European sides of Istanbul is barely visible.
By 2011, Istanbul's population had exploded from 2 million to 13 million people, and the city has gone through
a dramatic expansion. This Landsat 5 image shows densely packed urban areas stretching along the Sea of
Marmara and up the Bosporus Strait where a second bridge built in 1988 now crosses the water.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA
Thirty-five miles east of downtown Los Angeles lies the city of Ontario, California. In 1881 two Canadian
brothers established the town, naming it after their native province. By 1891, Ontario was incorporated as a
city. the farming-based economy (olives, citrus, dairy) of the city helped it grow to 20,000 by the 1960s.
Subsequently, warehousing and freight trafficking took over as the major industry, and the city's population
was over 160,000 by 2010. The L.A./Ontario International Airport is now America's 15 busiest cargo airport.
In these natural color Landsat 5 images, the massive growth of the city between 1985 and 2010 can be seen.
the airport, found in the southwest portion of the images, added a number of runways and large warehousing
structures now dominate the once rural areas surrounding the airport. In these images vegetation is green and
brown and urban structures are bright white and gray. (Note there is a large dry riverbed in the northeast corner
that is also bright white, but its nonlinear appearance sets it apart visually).
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA
FASO
The landlocked western African nation of Burkina Faso experienced a 200 percent increase in urban
population between 1975 and 2000. As a result, the area of the capital city Ouagadougou grew 14-fold during
this period.
These Landsat images show the city expanding outward from its center in the two decades between 1986 and
2006. On Nov. 18, 1986 the Landsat 5 satellite acquired this image of the capital. This false-color image shows
vegetation in shades of green and gray, water in various shades of blue and urban areas in pink and purple. The
runway of the city's airport can be seen as a long straight line that extends from the southwest to northeast
south of the large lake, Bois de Boulogne.
Two decades later, on Oct. 16, 2006 Landsat 7 acquired this image of Ouagadougou. Growth radiated from the
city center in all directions. The green strip of vegetation north of Bois de Boulogne has been paved over and a
massive new development including a large thoroughfare and traffic circle can be seen south of the airport.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS
SANTIAGO, CHILE
Santiago, Chile ranks among the world's fastest going cities. Chile is South America's fifth largest economy
with strong tourism and export markets. More than a third of Chile's population lived in Santiago as of 2009.
Taken on Jan. 9, 1985 and Jan. 30, 2010, this pair of images from the Landsat 5 satellite illustrates the city's
steady growth. the images were made with infrared and visible light so that plant-covered land is red. bare or
sparsely vegetated land is tan, and the city is dark silver. in the 25 years that elapsed between 1985 and 2010,
the city expanded away from the Andes Mountains along spike-like lines, which are major roads.
Images and caption: NASA/USGS