By field experiment in water sampling for chemical analysis and synchronous measurement of reflected light spectrum of water, the optimal channel combination models were obtained to retrieve chlorophyll-a concentration and suspended sediment concentration from remote sensing data of FY-1C multi-channel scanning radiometer, Landsat-5 TM, SeaWiFS of Seasat and a supposed set of remote sensing channels. A method retrieving water quality parameters by satellite remote sensing was suggested, in which the atmospheric transmittance and reflectance were determined by the reflected light spectrum of standard reflecting board on water and satellite remote sensing images themselves for the atmospheric calibration. The models and methods were used to retrieve the eutrophic degree, its space distribution and its change with year of Tai lake and Dianchi lake, which are typical eutrophic lakes of china, in 1980s and 1990s. The results of this study could be as the bases for operational satellite remote sensing of water quality of lake.