Abstract:As a typical ecologically fragile area in northwest China, the border region of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia is of great significance for soil and water conservation and ecological restoration to study the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of evapotranspiration (ET) and its response mechanism to meteorological factors in this area. In this study, we used MODIS ET data as data sources, and analyzed the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of ET and its relationship with meteorological factors by using trend analysis, correlation analysis, and the geographic detector method. The results showed that the spatial distribution of ET in the border region had significant differences, and was greatly affected by the terrain. ET in the southern Luliang Mountains and the northern Yinshan Mountains was significantly higher than that in the central region. In terms of time, affected by the coincidence of rainfall and heat, the monthly ET in the border region was high in summer and autumn, and low in winter and spring, and its maximum value occured in July-August. The explanatory power of meteorological factors on ET in the border region was in the order of precipitation, vapor pressure, temperature, wind speed, sunshine, and relative humidity, and they mainly had a synergistic effect. The synergistic effect of precipitation and temperature was the strongest, while the direct effect of wind speed and sunshine on ET was weak, mainly through affecting precipitation and temperature, and indirectly affecting ET.