By means of the observation data of the Golmud weather station from 1961 to 2012, the characteristics and impact factors of scattered radiation are studied. It is proved that scattered radiation showed a significant decreasing trend at Golmud in 52 years with a decrease rate of 9837 MJ/m2 per 10 years （〖WTBX〗P〖WTBZ〗<005）; the scattered radiation curve shows a unimodal trend with the annual maximum being 33332 MJ/m2, accounting for 13% in the annual total, and the minimum being 10835 MJ/m2， accounting for 4% in the annual total. The annual mean of scattered radiation is 261485 MJ/m2, accounting for 38% in the annual global radiation. The amount of scattered radiation in summer (1467 MJ/m2) is 22 times as great as that in winter (654 MJ/m2); the daily change curve of scattered radiation shows also a unimodal trend. The maximum appears around noon, and scattered radiation increases with the total cloud cover; the maximum appears along with cirrostratus and the minimum with cumulus; scattered radiation increases with the increase of solar elevation when there is snow, and the influence of ground snow cover on scattering radiation is mainly due to the increase of the scattered radiation reaching the ground induced by the multiple reflection on the surface and in the atmosphere.