Contact: Rob Gutro
robert.J.gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Satellite View of a Desert City's Urban Expansion

Caption: These images show a desert city's urban expansion captured by satellite. Riyadh, the national capital of Saudi Arabia, is shown in 1972, 1990 and 2000. Its population grew in these years from about a half million to more than two million. The city grew through in-migration from rural areas, and from decreases in the death rate while birthrates remained high. The 1972 image is a Landsat satellite image; the 1990 image is a Landsat Thematic Mapper scene; and the 2000 image is from NASA's ASTER instrument.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ ERSDAC/JAROS, U.S./Japan ASTER Team

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