Analyzing the Effectiveness of Remote Sensing Indices for Monitoring Urban Land Use Change: A Case Study in Can Tho City

Abstract Research aimed at finding the effective remote sensing indices for monitoring urban development in the case of Can Tho city in 2005, 2014 and 2023. Study applied the threshold method and compared the effectiveness of classification of urban and non-urban by using number of different indices as Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Built Up Index (NDBI) and Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI) derived from Landsat satellite imagery. The overlapping method then has been applied to evaluate urban development at the district level. Research results show that in the period 2005 - 2023, urban areas in Can Tho city increased more than 9,000 hectares. Of which, Ninh Kieu district has the highest urban density with area changing as 33.10% (2005), 50.92% (2014) and 61.76% (2023), Co Do district has lowest urban density in the entire period with 0.43% (2005), 2.39% (2014) and 3.2% (2023). The urban development focuses mainly in central and near-central districts and expanding along main routes. The study provides the value information for selecting the appropriate remote sensing indices in urban monitoring and management.