To examine the influence of coal dust from mining on vegetative growth, three typical plants from near an open-pit coalmine in an arid region were selected, and their spectral signals were determined. The present study was conducted near the Wucaiwan open-pit coalmine in the East Junggar Basin in Xinjiang. We extracted nineteen vegetation indices and examined their correlation with the dust flux. The objective was to determine which parameters that quantify vegetation damage could provide a basis for environmental monitoring in arid regions. The results indicate that when coal dust damages vegetation, both chlorophyll and moisture are reduced, and the amount of carotenoids increases with increasing coal dust. The pigment-specific normalized difference (PSNDb), structure-insensitive pigment index (SIPI) and plant water index (PWI) were the most sensitive indices, and sacsaoul was most sensitive to coal-dust pollution.