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Denver, Colorado, USA

Cities
  1. Earthshots
  2. Denver, Colorado, USA
Description

Denver has all the classic marks of substantial urban growth over the past few decades. Satellite images reveal expanding residential areas, industrial zones, and new freeways that loop around the metropolitan area. Also visible is one of the largest airport building projects in U.S. history.

False color imaging from Landsat that combines shortwave infrared and near-infrared bands shows growth of the city. Bright green is vegetation, so parks and golf courses are the brightest green; dark green is the forested areas in the Rocky Mountains; and the more mottled green shades are the residential areas of the city. Purple hues represent streets, highways, and other mostly unvegetated infrastructure.

Denver is experiencing post-1950 growth similar to other western cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Dallas. The Denver metropolitan area expanded in urbanized land from 150 square miles in 1950 to 499 square miles in 2000, primarily onto prairie and agricultural lands.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

June 22, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 33/32) — Denver, CO, USA

June 22, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 33/32) — Denver, CO, USA

July 9, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 33/32) — Denver, CO, USA

July 9, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 33/32) — Denver, CO, USA

June 22, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 33/32) — Denver, CO, USA
July 9, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 33/32) — Denver, CO, USA

Denver, Colorado, USA Additional Imagery & Stories

Greeley
Greeley

Other urban centers near Denver are also growing quickly. While the population of the Denver metropolitan area increased by 78% between 1990 and 2017,...

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New Airport
New Airport

A major development in this time series of images is Denver International Airport. A massive piece of infrastructure, the airport sits on 34,000 acres...

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Stapleton
Stapleton

Stapleton Airport near downtown Denver served the city since 1929. By the 1980s, it was becoming overburdened and could no longer meet the needs of th...

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Wildlife Refuge
Wildlife Refuge

There is a noticeable area of undeveloped land in all that urban growth. Just west of the new airport is open land that is now protected from developm...

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References

References (Earthshot Overview/Parent Only)

Airport Technology, 2019, Denver International Airport, Colorado: airport-technology.com, accessed Mar. 21, 2019, at https://www.airport-technology.com/projects/denver/.

Denver International Airport, [n.d.], Now & Then: City and County of Denver Department of Aviation, accessed Mar. 21, 2019, at https://www.flydenver.com/den20/then_now.

Denver International Airport, [n.d.], Runways and Airfield: City and County of Denver Department of Aviation, accessed Mar. 21, 2019, at https://www.flydenver.com/about/press_kit/runways_airfield.

Denver International Airport, 2018, Passenger Traffic Reports: City and County of Denver Department of Aviation, accessed Mar. 21, 2019, at https://www.flydenver.com/about/financials/passenger_traffic.

Faison, A.M., 2018, Denver Icon—Stapleton Air-Traffic-Control Tower: 5280, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.5280.com/2018/01/denver-icon-stapleton-air-traffic-control-tower/.

Goetz, A.R. and Boschmann, E.E., 2018, Metropolitan Denver—Growth and Change in the Mile High City: University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 240p.

Hicks, L.W., 2015, DIA20: Key moments in Denver airport history: Denver Business Journal, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2015/02/20/dia20-key-moments-in-denver-airport-history.html.

StapletonDenver.com, 2018, Stapleton, Denver: accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.stapletondenver.com/.

Street, F., 2017, Denver airport tower converted to restaurant: CNN, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/denver-airport-tower-restaurant/index.html.

U.S. Census Bureau, 1990, 1990 Census of Population—Social and Economic Characteristics—Colorado: U.S. Department of Commerce, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/cp-2/cp-2-7.pdf.

U.S. Census Bureau, [n.d.], American FactFinder—Community Facts: U.S. Census Bureau, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml.

U.S. Census Bureau, [n.d.], Ranking Tables for Metropolitan Areas—Population in 2000 and Population Change from 1990 to 2000: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t3/index.html.

U.S. Census Bureau, 2019, Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Population Totals—2010–2017: U.S. Census Bureau, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/popest/total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2019, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge—About the Refuge: USFWS, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Rocky_Mountain_Arsenal/about.html.

Visit Denver, [n.d.], Rocky Mountain Arsenal: Visit Denver, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.denver.org/things-to-do/denver-attractions/rocky-mountain-arsenal/.

Worldatlas.com, 2019, The Largest Airports in the World: worldatlas.com, accessed Mar. 20, 2019, at https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-10-largest-airports-by-size.html.

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