The study of ozone variations in Las Vegas metropolitan area by using remote sensing information and ground observations

Urban development in the Las Vegas valley, Nevada, experienced rapidly growth in the past fifty years. Associated with this growth is the change in land cover from natural landscape to developed urban land cover mixing with planned vegetation canopy in the metropolitan area. Air quality in the Las Vegas valley has been affected through increases of anthropogenic emissions and concentrations of carbon monoxide, ozone, and criteria pollutants of particular matter. Ozone concentrations in the area is generally influenced by synoptic and mesoscale meteorological conditions, as well as regional transport of pollutants from western side of Las Vegas. The local influences from ground-level nitrogen oxide emissions and vegetation canopy coverage also affect ozone concentration. Multi-year observational data collected by Local Air Monitoring Stations network in Clark County of Nevada indicate that ozone concentrations are higher on the west and northwest sides of the valley. In this study, the spatial and temporal urban development information derived from satellite remote sensing data from 1990s to 2000s is used to explore urban land use and land cover impacts on ozone concentrations and distributions. Spatial distributions of different urban development densities are investigated for possible anthropogenic emission sources. Multi-temporal and spatial ozone concentration and climate observation data from the local network are analyzed to conduct characteristics of ozone concentrations and distributions in the area. Also used in the study are urban area vegetation canopy information obtained from Landsat satellite imagery. The urban vegetation conditions, surface thermal features, climate conditions, and their impacts on ozone and other pollutants in the valley have also been investigated.