Spatial and temporal patterns of visibility in Las Vegas, July 2000--July 2001

The Clark County Department of Air Quality Management and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles funded a one-year study of visibility trends in Las Vegas. The Desert Research Institute conducted this study from July 2000 to July 2001. The monitoring sites for this study were chosen to represent three areas in Las Vegas, urban, suburban and background/transport. Strong diurnal patterns were found at the urban and suburban sites. The background site had low levels of air pollution, and most of the haze at this site was due to light scattering by particles. The suburban site followed a well-defined diurnal pattern during the cold season, and showed the influences of local activities (such as road construction) during the study. Overall, the urban site had the highest levels of visibility impairment, but during midday the visibility at this site improved and was comparable to that of the suburban site. This thesis presents the data from this study.