Abstract:Chengwu county is located at the alluvial plain of the Yellow River. The water system is rich and the surface water resources are abundant. In order to analyze the influence of surface water system on temporal and spatial pattern of land use in Chengwu county, based on remote sensing images of different periods, combining with field investigation and expert opinions, regional land use has been extracted. By using surface hydrology analysis based on DEM, flow accumulation, flow length and river network have been extracted. Regarding the river as the center, the buffer zones have been made. Comparing with land use map, land use structures in the buffer zone with different distances have been gained. Comparing with land use structures in the whole area, the characteristics and change of land use in the same buffer area in different periods have been analyzed, and change rule of land use has been summarized. Combining with different buffer areas with the distance of 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 500m, 750m and 1000m, through the constrast of.spatio-temporal change of all kinds of land use in buffer zones with different distances, the effect of water system factor to spatio-temporal change in different land types has been analyzed. It is showed that land use structure in different buffer zones in different distances is different. Accompanying with the increase of buffer areas, farmland, construction land, woodland, garden show different trends and characteristics. The influence of water factors on land use in Chengwu county are different. Water factor has obvious effect to spatial differentiation of land use in Chengwu county.