Abstract:Based on the monthly ground temperature data from 40 stations in Qinghai- Tibetan Plateau for the period of 1970-2002,the temporal-spatial distribution of annual ground temperature in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are investigated with the methods empirical orthogonal function, second order polynomial function and wavelet analysis. The results show that the first characteristic vector of the ground temperature over the plateau reveals the overall consistency. The second and third vectors reveal the fact that weather system and the sea level elevation affect on the distribution of ground temperature. The ground temperature abnormal area can be divided into four sub-regions, i.e., north-east, south, center and west. With the second order polynomial function, it shows that the ground temperature, in general, in the east-north sub-region, is decreasing, increasing in the south region and there is a high-low-high change feature in the center and west sub-regions. There are the periodic oscillations of 3-year and quasi-7-year of ground temperature over the plateau.