Abstract: Based on the soil heat flux data during 2009-2011 from the Taklimakan Desert Atmosphere and Environment Observation Experiment Station, characteristics of soil heat flux of the Taklimakan Desert hinterland was analyzed. The result showed that:(1) Annual mean soil heat flux at the depth of 1 cm of the Taklimakan Desert was 1.9 W·m², while at the depth of 5 cm, 20 cm and 40 cm were 1.0 W·m², 0.4 W·m², 0.4 W·m², respectively; The annual maximum soil heat flux at the depth of 1 cm was 334.1 W·m², and the annual minimum soil heat flux at the depth of 1 cm was 184.2 W·m²; The maximum value of soil heat flux was in summer. (2) The diurnal variation was obvious for soil heat flux at different levels. The daily range of soil heat flux obviously reduced with the deepness of soil depth, and there was a certain hysteresis for the time when maximum soil heat value appeared. The time at the depth of 5cm was 3 hours later than the depth of 1cm, and the time at the depth of 20 cm was 2 hours later than the depth of 5 cm.(3) The diurnal variations of soil heat flux under different weather processes have some differences with regular variation on sunny days while irregular variation on cloudy, rainy and dust days. The soil heat flux at the depth of 1 cm was significantly affected by the weather process. The mean soil heat flux at the depth of 1 cm was 9.0 W m² on sunny day, and the mean soil heat flux at the depth of 1 cm on cloudy, rainy and dust days were 5.1 W·m², -6.1 W·m², -1.9 W·m², respectively.

Key words: Taklimakan Desert, soil heat flux