Based on the surface temperature observed by meteorological stations,this paper compares and analyzes the applicability of surface temperature from the ERA-Interim,NCEP/NCAR and NCEP/DOE reanalysis data over the Tibetan Plateau.Results show that the three reanalysis products reveal the basic characteristics,the seasonal and interannual variations of surface temperature over the Tibetan Plateau,but they are all much colder than the observations and underestimate the long-term trend of surface temperature.Comparatively,the applicability of surface temperature from the ERA-Interim is the best,the correlation in surface temperature between the ERA-Interim and the observations is the most remarkable,and the surface temperature from ERA-Interim can better represent the abnormal variation of surface temperature,which can be used as the substitution data in studying interannual variation of surface temperature over the Tibetan Plateau.But the applicability of surface temperature from NCEP/NCAR and NCEP/DOE reanalysis data are both low,and the applicable period and area should be investigated further.