ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN THE RIVERBANKS OF MEKONG RIVER- VIETNAM BY USING MULTI-TEMPORAL REMOTE SENSING DATA

Giang Province along Tien and Hau River have suffered from serious erosions with average speed from 5 to 30m per year which has taken away hundreds of hectares of farming land, houses and has damaged many schools, hospitals, offices and main roads (Quang Hai, 2008). This has caused a lot of difficulties for governmental planning, seriously affected the life of citizens and also the development of the local economy. Therefore, the study of the statistical data, change rates and the direction of the movement of riverbanks is necessary to predict the future changes in the riverbanks of Tien and Hau River which will happen in the future. Consequently, the aim of this research is using remote sensing data which is known as an effective and fast technology to analyze the phenomenal hazard in the riverbanks. For this purpose, multi-temporal optical and radar satellite images (Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+, ASTER, and ERS-2) from 1989 to 2009 have been used. In addition to this topographical maps of the area were also used to provide the base map from 1966-1968 before the advent of remote sensing technique. The Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) software was applied for analyzing rate and predicting riverbank changes in next 5 and 10 years. The results for Sa Dec, Hong Ngu District are presented as hot spots showing the speed of erosion (reached to 50m per year) and were forecasted to erode from 100 t