BackgroundFargo is the fastest growing city in North Dakota. Why should there be studies of the growth of a city such as Fargo? How do we study the patterns of growth? Using remote sensing, one can efficiently study the change in the urban coverage in Fargo, ND.

First, controlling urban sprawl and keeping an effective growth management system in place for areas that show high growth within the city are reasons to use remote sensing to study growth. Also, planning the future infrastructure of the city is important. Remote sensing imagery can show comparisons between different time periods for specific areas of Fargo, ND.

There are economic implications as well: Where to place businesses, schools, housing, and industrial complexes based on growth rates within a city.

 Use of DataLandsat 4 (MSS) and Landsat 5 (TM) acquired from August 1974, August 1984, August 1992, July 1999, and August 2005 were used to represent the time period of urban growth in Fargo, ND. The imagery was downloaded using an AOI of the Fargo area from the Digital Northern Great Plains (DNGP) database. Each image was then put into ERDAS Imagine 8.7 for analysis and classification processing.

The resulting maps were created in ArcMap 9 from the land-cover classified images created using imagery from UMAC. Figure (1) represents a map showing the growth through the study period. Figure (2) is an example of imagery used for analysis and classification.

 Economic and Environmental BenefitsThe majority of the growth in Fargo, ND has been to the south and west of I-94 and I-29. There is a possibility that Hector International Airport to the north of Fargo has prevented growth in that direction. Landsat 4 and 5 imagery and classified imagery created show an increase in urban land cover, specifically housing, through the 31-year period to the south and west of I-29 and I-94.

A high percentage of the growth has occurred between the July 1999 image and the August 2005 image, which could lead to urban sprawl without proper growth management in place. This study leads to a better understanding of the planning projects in Fargo, ND and has potential of providing valuable data to environmental researchers studying urban growth and environmental preservation. This also gives a better view of the population trends in Fargo, ND through recent decades.