Applying remote sensing to monitor changes in surface water area in Crocodile Lake, Cat Tien National Park, Dong Nai Province

Wetland ecosystems have very high biodiversity. Changes in surface water area greatly impact the habitat of organism as well as Biodiversity in these areas. Crocodile Lake, located in the south of Cat Tien National Park, Tan Phu district, is recognized as the second Ramsar site in Vietnam and the 1499th in the world, with high value in terms of biodiversity, environment, landscape, and tourism. However, due to the significant impact of climate change, along with the influence of surrounding human activities. Crocodile Lake is facing challenges related to decreasing area, habitat loss for organisms, and declining biodiversity. Therefore, monitoring and studying the changes in surface water coverage in the Crocodile Lake area during time is extremely necessary. The main method of the research involves utilising available remote sensing data (Landsat imagery dataset), image processing and analysis, and creating image indices (NDWI - The Normalized Difference Water Index) to distinguish water coverage from other surface features in the study area from 2000 to 2023. The result of this research is creating of a map of water coverage changes in the Crocodile Lake area during this period.