VCIcomputed from NDVIis a recommendatory index usually used in drought monitoring by remote sensing

but it could be different criterion on scaling the drought severity in different region. It is more important to get an objective scaling method forVCIthanVCIitself. By analyzing the historic data （1981-1994） of NOAA AVHRR NDVI（resolution of 8 km） and soil humidity （-20cm） observed by 102 permanent agro-meteorological stations in the whole China

the statistical models have been made out between the vegetation condition index （VCI） and the soil moisture index （SHI）. The scales of VCIin determining the drought severity can easily form the ones of SHIin describing the drought through the models

so drought monitoring in every ten days is practical. Based on that

the operational system of drought monitoring by remote sensing in China has been developed

which can be used to monitor the occurrence of the drought in China for every ten days from March to September. It would be beneficial to policy-maker for disaster reduction.