According to thermal inertia, the autumn drought in Shandong Province in 2002 was monitored by utilizing satellite remote sensing data. The whole Shandong Province was divided into four ecotypes to raise the calculation precision of the soil moisture model. On such a basis, the diurnal range of ground -surface temperature retrieved by satellite remote sensing data was corrected for vegetation index and other environmental factors. The area of drought-stricken farmland was calculated by means of GIS, with excellent result obtained.