Abstract: A method using basic meteorological date for examining effective foil water content was developed based on Penmen equation,and Thornthwaite & Mather's instructions and tables for computing potential evapotranspiration and water balance.Using this method effective soil water contents in the southeast of Shanxi province and winter wheat-corn farmland in Naanpi county of Hebei province were examined and compared with the measured effective soil water contents.The results showed that this method was simple and reliable.