Abstract: The surface sensible heat flux (SSHF) of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is one of the major components of the heat source in the TP, with an important impact on the plateau local weather system, China's weather and the Asian monsoon. Based on the site data from 1980 to 2016, the monthly mean SSHF is calculated to analyze the characteristics of spatial distribution and temporal variability of the SSHF in the plateau. The results, compared with the ERA-Interim, NCEP1 and NCEP2 reanalysis datasets, show that four kinds of data have good consistency in the spatial distribution and the interannual variations of summer, interannual variations of central TP (CTP) , and long-term trend. The SSHF of ERA-Interim is superior to the other two reanalysis datasets. The distribution of SSHF over the TP is characterized with high values in the western Plateau and low eastern Plateau. The annual maximum of SSHF appears in the Qaidam basin and the minimum is located in Gongshan. The regional average value of SSHF is the highest in spring and the lowest in winter. The monthly change of SSHF shows a unimodal distribution. The interannual variations in different subregions switch from decreasing to increasing in 2001 or 2003.