Based on ETM images in 2002,ASTER images in 2004 and basic background data in the main stream of Tarim river,a spatial database is created to store the data about basic background data,remote sensing images data,special data,and attribute data by applying the technology of data warehouse,the theory of the integrative spatial and attribute data and seamless integration of multi-source data.Land use information is obtained and analyzed in the main stream of Tarim river in 2002 and 2004 by using the technologies of remote sensing(RS),geographic positioning systems(GPS) and geographic information systems(GIS) etc.The research exposes the changing range,speed and annual variation of land use,and the spatial-temporal changing trend of the farmland in researched area after the emergent water transportation project.The result shows that the utilized areas of farmland,natural grassland and reed land increased quickly in upriver reaches and middle reaches of Tarim river from 2002 to 2004,while the utilized areas of woodland,water area and waste grassland decreased correspondingly.The farmland increase at the cost of vegetation destroying and water area decreasing,the prospect is still hard and not promising in the research area as a whole on a large scale.