These images show the metropolitan area of San Antonio, Texas. From 1974 to 1988 the population of the metropolitan area increased by 35%, from 980,000 to 1,323,000. In rank of US metropolitan areas, it rose from 37th to 30th.¹

The bright square northeast of the city is part of Randolph Air Force Base. To the southeast of the city are several reservoirs. Pronounced urban/suburban expansion is visible on the west edge of the city.

This area has freezing temperatures only 20 days a year, on average, and is normally freeze-free from early March to late November. Both scenes were taken following three fairly dry months preceded by a year or more of above-average rainfall, with 1973-1974 a bit wetter than 1987-1988. The average annual precipitation for San Antonio is 29 inches (water equivalent).² These facts may help you compare the raw MSS scenes available below.

Footnotes

1. U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1990, Statistical Abstract of the United States: Washington, D. C. U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1976, Statistical Abstract of the United States: Washington, D. C.

2. Frank E. Bair, ed., The Weather Almanac: Detroit, Gale Research, 6th ed., p. 784-786.

Other references

Moize, Elizabeth A., and O'Brien, Michael, 1990, Austin: deep in the heart of Texans: National Geographic Magazine, vol. 177, no. 6, June, p. 50-71.

Satellite images

LM1029040007403590 (Landsat 1 MSS, 4 February 1974)

LM5027040008807990 (Landsat 5 MSS, 19 March 1988)

Map

U.S. Geological Survey, 1980 (1954, revised 1980), San Antonio, Texas: scale 1:250,000.

How to cite this article

Campbell, Robert Wellman, ed. 1997. "San Antonio, Texas: 1974, 1988." Earthshots: Satellite Images of Environmental Change. U.S. Geological Survey. http://earthshots.usgs.gov. This article was released 14 February 1997.