Abstract: Based on the series climate data of 97 meteorological stations in the Yellow River Basin from 1960 to 2000 compiled by the China Meteorological Administration,the spatial and temporal structure of precipitation in the Yellow River Basin was analyzed,by using Kriging method.The results showed that the distribution of long year average precipitation in the Yellow River Basin had an obvious regional difference,which was influenced not only by the weather system,but also by the topography and geographical environment.The main distribution trend was that there was more in the Southeastern and less in the Northwestern;In views of the changes of annual precipitation in the Yellow River Basin,it has an appreciably increasing trend and the tendency was 1.308mm/10a.Moreover,the precipitation was above normal in the 1960s and 1980s and below normal in the 1970s and 1990s.The precipitation increased obviously in the up stream,but decreased in the middle and lower reaches of the river;In respect to assigning within the year,the precipitation in the Yellow River Basin centralized greatly during June and September,but there were the largest in July and August.Furthermore,downriver precipitation gets more centralized than others'.The conclusions were important to research the evolvement of water resources the Yellow River Basin.

Key words: Kriging method, Kriging method, Precipitation, Spatial and temporal structure, Yellow River Basin