Abstract:Crop Water Deficit Index (CWDI) is used as a drought monitoring index to explore its applicability in different agricultural areas. The daily, seasonal and annual CWDIs from 1971 to 2000 from 18 meteorological stations distributed in different climate regions are calculated. The seasonal and regional characteristics of CWDIs are primarily analyzed. Typical drought events of these 18 meteorological stations are verified by using the departures of CWDIs as monitoring indexes, and the results show that CWDI can reveal the status of crop’s water deficiency and drought events of these stations in growing season. CWDI is quite applicable for monitoring agricultural droughts in different regions.