canopy analysis las vegas valley

Canopy AnalysisLas Vegas Valley

John WatermolenNevada Division of Forestry

Las Vegas Valley Urban Canopy AnalysisProject funded by a U.S. Forest Service Western Competitive grant, through the State and Private Forestry ProgramThank you to Partners- City of Henderson, UNLV and Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA)

Project Description

• Project was designed to determine the amount of tree canopy in the Las Vegas Valley• Tree inventory was also included in the project proposal and an additional ARRA grant

Background

• During a planning meeting, it was decided that NDF would do most of the work on a valley wide Canopy analysis.• Remaining funds from the Canopy analysis would be sub granted to the different municipalities for additional work• This would allow for more funding to be available for a Tree Inventory

Map showing Project area

Workflow• UNLV GIS and Remote Sensing lab was sub contracted to create the different land cover layers• Land cover classification schema was based on CityGreen definitions

Initial Land Classification

•Bladed Ground- This layer is composed of land that has been bladed for development. There will be no vegetation on the properties and are usually housing developments that have not been completed. City green classification- Impervious surface-unpaved-dirt or Urban Bare•Barren Ground- this is barren ground. It could be next to a golf course fairway or most of a property on larger size parcels. Example if there is a 1 acres parcel with mostly barren ground and a house, just make the whole parcel barren ground. City green classification Arid and Semi Arid Rangeland Sage Brush 30-70% cover or Arid and Semi Arid Rangeland Desert Shrub 30-70% cover•Open Space- This later will consist of athletic fields, golf course fairways, greens and sand traps. This could include areas next to schools such as soccer fields. City green classification Grass Scattered Trees-grass cover 50-75% or Grass Scattered Trees-grass cover >75%

Land Classification (cont)•Parking lots- This layer consists of large parking lots that would be adjacent to hotels, malls, larger schools, businesses and universities. It would also include runways and general airport lands. City Green Classification Impervious Surface-Paved-Drain to Sewer•Buildings-This layer consists of residential, commercial and industrial buildings. In residential areas, complete blocks could be grouped together. In areas of partial development, group houses that are next to each other. Apartment and Condo Complexes include all parking, open space areas. City Green classification Urban or Impervious Surface-Buildings/Structures (could break this out by residential, commercial or industrial•Water Features- This layer consist of any ponds in parks, water traps on a golf course, some of the large casino water features. City Green Classification would be Water Area

Map showing UNLVClassification

Final Land ClassificationFinal land classification was, using City Green descriptions:•Arid and Semi Arid Rangeland-Sagebrush=Ground cover 30% to 70%•Impervious Paved•Impervious Drain Sewer-Roads, Parking lots•Impervious Unpaved Dirt- Bladed•Open Space grass/scattered trees

Final Land Classification•Open Space grass/Scattered trees grass cover > 75% (turf)•Trees: Grass/turf understory ground cover > 75%•Urban: Commercial/Business•Urban: Residential•Urban: Western Desert•Water Area

Map showing Classificationused for CityGreen

Results from CityGreen AnalysisSnapshot of results from the City Green AnalysisLas Vegas Valley-Project AreaWithin Project Area

City of Las VegasCity of HendersonCity of North Las VegasUnincorporated areas of Clark County

Results-Las Vegas ValleyLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 52,449.9 19.1%Impervious Surfaces: Paved 20,420.5 7.5%Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 34,445.1 12.6%Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 15,750.8 5.8%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 9,549.6 3.5%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 7,439.1 2.7%

Trees: Grass/turf understory: Ground cover > 75% 23,472.5 8.6%

Urban: Commercial/Business 16,275.1 5.9%

Urban: Residential 77,540.5 28.3%

Urban: Western Desert 15,810.1 5.8%

Water Area 742.0 0.3%

Total: 273,895.1

100.0%

Ecosystem Benefits-Air QualityLas Vegas Valley

Ibs Removed/year Dollar Value/yr

Carbon Monoxide 188,312 92,419Ozone 899,714 3,178,736Nitrogen Dioxide 481,243 1,700,254Particulate Matter 1,506,498 3,553,601Sulfur Dioxide 41,847 36,115

Air Pollution-Total 3,117,615 $8,561,126

Results –City of Las VegasLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 4,439.7 6.9Impervious Surfaces: Paved 4,161.3 6.5Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 10,171.6 15.9Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 2,554.1 4.0Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 2,959.2 4.6Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 1,889.8 2.9

Trees: Grass/turf understory: Ground cover > 75% 8,275.8 12.9

Urban: Commercial/Business 3,478.4 5.4

Urban: Residential 22,194.6 34.6

Urban: Western Desert 3,893.4 6.1

Water Area 125.7 .2

Total: 64,143.6

100.0%

Ecosystem Benefits-Air QualityCity of Las Vegas


Carbon Monoxide 66,394 32,584Ozone 317,215 1,120,736Nitrogen Dioxide 169,673 559,463Particulate Matter 531,150 1,252,903Sulfur Dioxide 14,754 12,733


Results – City ofHendersonLand Type Acres Percenta






Water Area 496.1 1.0

Total: 50,212.6

100.0%

Ecosystem Benefits-Air QualityCity of Henderson


Carbon Monoxide 28,441 13,958Ozone 135,885 480,089Nitrogen Dioxide 72,683 256,792Particulate Matter 227,529 536,705Sulfur Dioxide 6,320 5,455

Air Pollution-Total 470,858 $1,292,999

Results-City of North Las VegasLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 6,009.6 19.6%Impervious Surfaces: Paved 3,097.0 10.1%Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 4,221.4 13.7%Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 2,232.0 7.3%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 702.3 2.3%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 627.9 2.0%





Water Area 4.2 0.0%

Total: 30,707.0

100.0%

Ecosystem Benefits-Air QualityNorth Las Vegas


Carbon Monoxide 13,525 6,638Ozone 64,620 228,306Nitrogen Dioxide 34,564 122,117Particulate Matter 108,201 255,229Sulfur Dioxide 3,006 2,594

Air Pollution-Total 223,916 $614,884

Results – Unicorporated Clark CountyLand Type Acres Percenta






Water Area 116.1 0.1

Total: 128,831.9

100.0%

Ecosystem Benefits-Air QualityUnincorporated Clark County


Carbon Monoxide 79,955 39,240Ozone 382,006 1,349,648Nitrogen Dioxide 204,329 721,905Particulate Matter 639,639 1,508,810Sulfur Dioxide 17,768 15,334


Results using incorporated boundaries

Did a CityGreen analysis-using the boundaries for:

Las VegasHendersonNorth Las Vegas

Results –City of Las VegasLand Type Acres Percenta







Total: 73,202.3

100.0%

Results – City of HendersonLand Type Acres Percenta







Total: 65,480.7

100.0%

Results-City of North Las VegasLand Type Acres Percenta






Water Area 4.2 0.0%

Total: 54,055.5

100.0%

Summary-Canopy CoverEntity Project Area Entity Boundary

Las Vegas Valley 8.6%City of Las Vegas 12.9% 8,280 acres =

11.3%City of Henderson 7.1% 3,548 acres = 5.4%City of North Las Vegas 5.5% 1,700 acres = 3.1%Unincorporated Clark County

8.6%

Ecosystem BenefitsIncrease Canopy Cover

Increasing Canopy Cover can mitigate Air Pollution, Water Quality and Water Quantity (Runoff) for the Las Vegas Valley

Enitity Current Canopy

Ecosytem Benefits

Current Canopy Ecosytem Benefits

20% Canopy Ecosytem Benefits

Las Vegas Valley

8.6%

Air Pollution

3,117,615/$8,561,126

7,275,751/$19,979,574

Stormwater Management

69,368,919 ft3 -35,100,743 ft3




Ecosytem Benefits



City of Las Vegas

8.6%

Air Pollution

1,099,688/$3019799

1,944,546/$5,339,821


24,889,764 ft3 -5,829,167 ft3




Ecosytem Benefits



City of Henderson

8.6%

Air Pollution

3,117,615/$8,561,126

7,275,751/$19,979,574


69,368,919 ft3 -35,100,743 ft3




Ecosytem Benefits



City of North Las Vegas

5.4%

Air Pollution

471,190/1,293,912

1,739,430/4,776,561


6,131,911 ft3 -5,335,052 ft3

Canopy Cover-ZoningA generalized zoning layer was developed by UNLV. 11 different zoning categoriesCityGreen analysis done for each zoning category for each entity

Canopy Cover-Zoning•The zoning map was prepared by merging the landuse maps of the individual cities. •In the merging process, careful attention was given to the merging of the different classification schemes used by the cities.•Process for creating a Las Vegas valley zoning map began with researching available data of designated city land use boundaries and government zone policies. •Each city website had PDF’s of their zoning map and of the building code which defines land use characteristics. •Shapefiles of the zoning maps were accessible at the Clark County GIS Management Office website (GISMO).

Map showing Generalized Zoning

Las Vegas Valley-CommercialLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 12,885.7 29.1%Impervious Surfaces: Paved 8,761.7 19.8%Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 2,906.6 6.6%Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 2,801.4 6.3%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 299.2 0.7%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 236.0 .5%






Total: 44,244.8

100.0%

Las Vegas Valley-IndustrialLand Type Acres Percenta


Trees: Grass/turf understory: Ground cover > 75% 326.3 1.4%


Urban: Residential 107.4 0.5%



Total: 23,251.8

100.0%

Las Vegas Valley-Open LandLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 72999.5 62.6%Impervious Surfaces: Paved 116.3 0.1%Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 301.3 0.3%Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 1063.7 0.9%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 31.6 0.0%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 52.0 0.0%


Urban: Commercial/Business 30.4 0.0%


Urban: Western Desert 41913.9 25.9%

Water Area 0 0.0%

Total: 116,662.7

100.0%

Las Vegas Valley-Public UseLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 33,387.7 42.8%Impervious Surfaces: Paved 4,871.6 6.2%Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 638.6 0.8%Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 2,719.9 3.5%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 4,205.0 5.4%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 4,134.9 5.3%






Total: 78,009.4

100.0%

Las Vegas Valley-UnclassifiedLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 1,349.2 4.1%Impervious Surfaces: Paved 55.3 0.2%Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 11,554.1 34.7%Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 123.3 0.4%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 62.9 0.2%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 27 0.1%





Water Area 3.3 0.0%

Total: 33,252.9

100.0%

Las Vegas Valley-Nellis AFBLand Type Acres Percenta

geArid & Semi-Arid Rangeland: Sagebrush: Ground cover 30% - 70% 4929.7 35.6%Impervious Surfaces: Paved 1167.1 8.4%Impervious Surfaces: Paved: Drain to sewer 27.8 0.2%Impervious Surfaces: Unpaved: Dirt 147.6 1.1%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees 245.4 1.8%Open Space - Grass/Scattered Trees: Grass cover > 75% 361.6 2.6%




Urban: Western Desert 5856.8 42.3%

Water Area 0.0 0.0%

Total: 13847.1

100.0%

How does Las Vegas CompareLas Vegas Valley 8.6%City of Las Vegas 13%City of Henderson 7%City of N. Las Vegas 5.5%Unincorporated 7.7%Truckee Meadows 4.5%Denver, CO 10%Salt Lake City, UT 10%Albuquerque, NM 6%

What’s next

•Heat Island Study by UNLV-in progress•Additional Canopy Analysis such as planting areas-City of Henderson-completed•Tree Inventory of public tree-in progress•Redo Canopy Analysis in 5 to 10 years

UNLV Heat Island StudyThis project is an extension of Las Vegas landcover mapping project. We are develop urban thermal model for Las Vegas valley to understand the thermal entrapment that leads to urban heat islands. In this work, we are also investigating the landcover changes over last 30 years using LandSat imagery. This would help link the urban heat island development to the urban sprawl.

City of HendersonUpdated Tree canopy using 2010 NAIP imageryPossible Planting Area (PPA) –

Open space turf grassOpen space other landscapingParking lots

Henderson CommunityViz Analysis: Galleria Parking Lot Analysis including examples of potential costs and benefits for tree planting scenarios including existing tree canopy

UTC assessment metrics for HOAs, bus stop buffers, CDBG eligible census tracts, and parcels in the downtown redevelopment area to determine PPA

QuestionsJohn Watermolen-Nevada Division of Forestry(775) [email protected]

http://forestry.nv.gov/forestry-resources/urban-tree-canopy-assessment-projects/

mailto:[email protected]

canopy analysis las vegas valley

Documents

city green classification

ground cover

city green descriptions

tree canopy

partners city

parcel barren ground

valley wide canopy analysis

residential areas