Abstract: An once-in-a-century drought occurred in 2009/2010 over Yunnan province,which seriously impacted on people’s life.Based on the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data from November,2009 to April,2010 provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA),the temperature vegetation drought index (TVDI) was constructed to detect drought over Yunnan in 2009/2010.After compared the TVDI with the observed soil moisture of Kunming,Zhaotong and Jiangcheng,the spatio-temporal evolution of drought in 2009/2010 was revealed.The monitored results show that after enter edthe dry season,drought occurred in Yunnan with different level.The most severe drought conditions appeared in February and March,2010,in which the medium drought area reached more than 50 % and the severe drought area reached about 27 % of the total area.Severe drought area was mainly distributed over the southern and eastern of Yunnan. Only Diqing and Nujiang Autonomous which lacated in the northwestern of Yunnan ware relatively wet.