Newhall Pass via Interstate 5 and Highway 14

          The Newhall Pass is a complicated region as it is the site of a major freeway interchange represented by Interstate 5 and Highway 14. Interstate 5 is one of the most traveled freeways in the Western United States and is a major trucking route from Southern California to the San Joaquin Valley. Highway 14 and Sierra Highway represent the major commuting route from the heavily populated Antelope Valley and therefore experience high daytime traffic. This corridor is also of great importance to the Rim of the Valley Conservation Area as it is the only potential wildlife corridor connecting the Santa Susana Mountains and thereby the Santa Monica Mountains with the much larger Angeles National Forest. The San Gabriel Mountains represents a large a diverse habitat region and a key connector of biodiversity to the much different Santa Susana Mountains on the western side of Interstate 5.  This establishes the Newhall Pass as a vital connector for the wildlife of the two regions as Greater Los Angeles and Interstate 5 represent a very real boundary between the Angeles National Forest and the relatively connected Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains. The main focus of this study area is to determine whether it would make more sense ecologically to have one wildlife corridor over Interstate 5 before the major interchange or to have two wildlife corridors represented in a northern crossing of Interstate 5 followed by a crossing over Highway 14.

(NDVI density slice overlay on ArcMap 10.2 Satellite background. NDVI image derived from Landsat 8 )

                             (West East NDVI spectral profile across Interstate 5 south of interchange. ENVI Classic.)                                   

                     (West East NDVI spectral profile across Interstate 5 north of interchange. ENVI Classic.)

(North South NDVI spectral profile across Highway 14. ENVI Classic.)

(NDVI density slice 3D image, view looking North by Northwest. Data acquired through glovis.usgs.gov SRTM, Landsat 8.)

    (Thermal 3D image, view looking North by Northwest. Data acquired through glovis.usgs.gov SRTM, Landsat 8. )