Near Lake Mead A Las Vegas, Nevada, USA story
Cities
Deserts
Water
These close-up NLCD images show the water level changes to western Lake Mead. The water classification (blue) changes to barren ground (gray) as the lake shrinks from 2001 to 2011.
Golf courses show up as developed land. Even though they have vegetation (as indicated in the Landsat images as bright green), here they show up as developed, open space. This faded pink color is also used to indicate lawn grasses in large-lot single-family housing units, parks, and other vegetation planted for aesthetics.
The dark red is urban areas, and in the lower center of image is Boulder City, NV. The faded pink is conspicuous as golf courses, but another pink and red line traces toward the left—a highway that leads from Boulder City to part of Henderson. Around Lake Las Vegas are more golf courses and development in the upper left. The River Mountains occupy the blank tan space to the left of Lake Mead.
Location
National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2001, Lake Mead, Nevada, USA
National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2006, Lake Mead, Nevada, USA
National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2011, Lake Mead, Nevada, USA
National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016, Lake Mead, Nevada, USA
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Additional Imagery & Stories
Change Animation
If you could speed up time and watch a fast-growing city like Las Vegas change, what would it look like? From the perspective of the Landsat satellite...
Impervious Surface
NLCD images of western Las Vegas show that much more urban expansion took place here between 2001 and 2006 than over the next 5 years. The land cover ...
Lake Las Vegas
Between 1986 and 1992, a lake appeared east of the city, along Las Vegas Wash, a riparian area. This is Lake Las Vegas, a privately owned lake that is...
Lake Mead
How is Las Vegas getting enough water for its expanding population? Most of it comes from Lake Mead on the Colorado River. The Colorado River provides...
Land Cover Maps
The images displayed in this section show a different way of looking at change over time. These images are part of the National Land Cover Database (N...
Southwestern Las Vegas
Zooming in on the southwestern portion of the city reveals further urban and suburban changes. McCarran International Airport expanded in this timefra...
Western Urban Expansion
In these false-color images, bright green indicates vegetation. As the city expands, you can see a sort of land cover succession as people build on th...