Abstract:Based on the LANDSAT remote sensing images since the late 1980s, the area change of Lake Taihu in the recent 15 years was studied.The results showed that of 9.0226 km2 the lake area had collectively declined from 1988 to 2003, 4.4584, 0.6968 and 3.8674 km2 of whicli were due to reclamation, bottomland and cofferdam respectively.