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Under arid natural conditions, soil water content governs and limits the number and size of perennial plant species. Thus, plant-available soil water is the main constraint for sustainable control of desert encroachment. To evaluate possibilities for re-vegetation of bare sand surfaces, soil water and temperature patterns for typical sand dunes in a desert climate were investigated. Bare and vegetated soil transects were selected for observation of soil water content and temperature. The investigated soil transects covered crest-to-crest spacings (about 60 m horizontally and 15 m vertically) in a shifting sand dune area. Observations were made at Shapotou field research station bordering the Tengger Desert in Northwestern China. The paper presents two-dimensional properties of soil water content (0.1-3.0 m depth) and temperature (0-1.0 m depth) before and after rainfall. Rainfall (15-22 mm) affected soil water distribution down to 1.5-2.0 m and temperature distribution down to 1.0 m. Soil water appeared to be transported through the apparently highly pervious and homogeneous sand along the dune slopes. High water contents and, thus, infiltration occurred mainly at the non-sloping parts, i.e. the dune crests and bottoms. Rainfall changed the temperature patterns from a mainly horizontally layered appearance before the rainfall to increasingly vertically shaped patterns.