Based on the MODIS remote sensing inversion data from 2001-2013, this paper studied the desertification and characteristics of its seasonal variation in Hetao area through analyzing the land cover types, leaf area index (LAI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI). The results showed that from 2001 to 2013, the overall land cover of vegetation in Hetao area was getting better with cultivated land area increasing from 4218 km2 in 2001 to 20470 km2 in 2013, the average LAI increasing from 0.130-0.335 in 2003 to 0.182-0.405 in 2013, and the overall trend of average NDVI and EVI were increasing year by year, from 0.142 and 0.095 in 2001 to 0.193 and 0.116 in 2013 respectively. Moreover, the quality of vegetation growth per unit area was increasing as well. In addition, according to the characteristics of the seasonal distribution of NDVI, food crops with two harvests a year began to be largely planted in Bayannur League, northern Hetao area around the year of 2013. However, the study also found that the vegetation cover index in Hetao area was still low and the desertification in northern and southwestern Hetao area had deteriorated. Therefore, the ecological environment problems will easily appear without effective measures.
