Earth  ID: 30182

Tehran Urbanization

Tehran, Iran’s capital, ranks high among the world’s fast-growing cities. In the early 1940s, Tehran’s population was about 700,000. By 1966, it had risen to 3 million, and by 1986—during the Iran-Iraq war—migrants brought the population to 6 million. Today, the metropolitan area has more than 10 million residents. This explosive growth has environmental and public health consequences, including air and water pollution and the loss of arable land.

The Thematic Mapper sensor on NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite acquired these false-color images of Tehran on August 2, 1985, and July 19, 2009. In both images, vegetation appears bright green, urban areas range in color from gray to black, and barren areas appear brown. Whereas non-urbanized areas fringe the earlier image, urbanization fills almost the entire frame of the later image. Major roadways crisscrossing the city in 1985 remain visible in 2009, but many additional roadways have been added, particularly in the north.

For More Information

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=41308


Credits

Robert Simmon (Sigma Space Corporation): Data Visualizer
Marit Jentoft-Nilsen: Animator
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30182

Mission:
Landsat

Data Used:
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Land Use/Land Cover
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Environmental Impacts >> Urbanization
GCMD >> Location >> Iran
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0