Abstract: Snow cover is highly sensitive to climate and can respond to climate change, and its change study is of great significance. Based on Landsat 7 ETM SLC and Landsat 8 OLI images, the object-oriented extraction and human-computer interaction interpretation methods of eCognition are jointly used for the extraction and analysis of snow distribution data in Yunnan in 2000 and 2020, combined with 23 meteorological stations and 50 interpolation points in 2000—2020 temperature, precipitation, snowfall, snow depth records and elevation data and other auxiliary data, using univariate linear regression analysis and Mann-Kendall trend test. By mutation detection method, the distribution status of snow cover in Yunnan, the change of snow cover in 2000—2020 and the climate response analysis are carried out. The results show that: ①In 2000, the total snow area in Yunnan was 1 533.1 km², in 2000, the total snow area in Yunnan was 987.8 km², and in 2000—2020, the snow area decreased by 545.3 km². Among them, the snow cover decreased by 945.6 km², the snow area increased by 400.300 2 km², and 587.463 3 km² remained unchanged. ②The distribution and change of snow cover in Yunnan showed significant spatial differences. The changes in snow cover area were concentrated in the latitude range of 28°N—28.5°N and the elevation range of 3.6～4.0 km, and the area decreased by 16.2% and 14.5%, respectively. ③The temperature and precipitation in Yunnan showed a significant upward trend, with linear tendency reaching 0.38℃ and 314.7 mm every ten years, respectively, which were negatively correlated with the change of snow cover, and the snowfall amount and snow depth showed a weak downward trend, which was positively correlated with the overall change of snow cover. This study provides supporting data for the spatial distribution and change of snow cover in Yunnan and the trend of climate change.

Key words: remote sensing, climate change, object-oriented classification, snow cover, Yunnan region