Abstract: Based on the comprehensive meteorological drought index (CI) at 97 meteorological stations and MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI) data between 2000 and 2017 in Dongting Lake Basin, the maximum value composites and correlation analysis methods were applied to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of the EVI (natural and artificial vegetation) and extreme drought intensity during growing seasons (from April to October) over the recent 18 years and to examine the sensitivity of natural vegetation and artificial vegetation to extreme drought. The results show that the inter-annually maximum value of extreme drought intensity and the minimum value of EVI for both natural vegetation and artificial vegetation regions appeared in 2011. The extreme drought intensity during growing season was ranked as that in autumn > in summer > in spring, and EVI varied seasonally in an order of that in summer > in spring > in autumn, but the EVI values of natural vegetation were significantly higher than that of artificial vegetation. The sensitivity of artificial vegetation to extreme drought was higher than that of natural vegetation. However, the sensitivity of both vegetation types to extreme drought varied with vegetation growth stage, with the most significant correlation between the EVI and the extreme drought intensity in August. The extreme drought intensity and EVI can depict well the spatio-temporal evolutions of drought in spring and summer-autumn in 2011.