Abstract: A numerical model of atmospheric turbulence in surface layer over desert is presented. Through measuring meteorological parameters including temperature, humidity, pressure and wind speed, atmospheric turbulence strength in the surface layer can be obtained. The calculation results of the model show that, generally, the maximum strength appears the midday, and the minimum appears about the sunrise and the sunset, while the strength changes irregularly at night, reflecting the atmospheric turbulence variational characteristics in the surface layer perfectly. In all the meteorological parameters, the variation of temperature affects the atmospheric turbulence strength directly. The strength changes in the same direction as the change in temperature, and larger strength variation corresponds