Abstract: By taking the advantages of remote sensing technology, changes of land cover in Ca Mau Peninsular (the Southern part of the Mekong delta) and erosion of riverbank of the Mekong River have been defined. Change detection using time-series optical and radar satellite images (Landsat, SPOT and Radarsat) is the main approach in this study. Typical land cover in Ca Mau Peninsular is mangrove; its changes are observable by analysing imageries from 1973 to 2008. The results showed that more than half of the mangrove area was converted into shrimp farms. This made forest cover severely declined. Riverbank of the Mekong River also was detected to be eroded and accreted in a complicated form. Locations along the left and right banks of Tien and Hau river are defined as hot spots that are seriously suffered erosions. Topographic maps in 1966-1968 were taken into account as base line data, which was analyzed along with satellite images from 1989 to 2009. In addition, the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) package was taken to analyze trend of changes in terms of changing prediction.

Key words: remote sensing, change detection, land use, riverbank, erosion