ABSTRACT
Urban development in the U. S. is increasingly using land for residential and commercial purposes. Over the past 100 years, cities have grown from small, isolated population centers to large, interconnected urban economic, physical, and cultural features of the landscape. Spatial distributions and patterns of urban land use and land cover (LULC) often affect socioeconomic (Douglass, 2000), environmental (Gillies et al., 2003; Yin et al., 2005), and climatic conditions (Arnfield, 2003; Kalnay and Cai, 2003; Voogt and Oke, 2003). Accurate and current information on the status and trends of urban LULC and ecosystems is needed to build strategies for sustainable development. The ability to assess urban LULC change is desirable for urban planners, local community decision makers, and urban environment researchers.
