The air temperature within near-ground layer is an important surrounding factor that can affect winter wheat growth. The simultaneous heat and water (SHAW) model, which is a detailed process model of heat and water movement in the plant-snow-residue-soil system, was evaluated in simulating the air temperature within near-ground layer from 0 cm to 40 cm at after-jointing stage of winter wheat. Field experiment was taken in Shangqiu City, Henan Province to observe the winter wheat growth and surrounding factors, such as air temperature. The SHAW model was calibrated and driven with inputs of part of field experiment data and empirical parameters. The results showed that the SHAW model performed well in simulating air temperature within near-ground layer in winter wheat field, with 48% of the absolute error of simulated values was less than 1℃, 75% of the absolute error of simulated values was less than 2℃，and the model efficiency at different heights was higher than 0.94. The simulated values had higher biases during the day than those at night and they were increased with the increase of height from ground, and their biases generally reached the largest value during 11:00 and 14:00. The daily mean values of the simulated and observed air temperature values were basically the same, while the daily lowest values were overestimated and the daily highest values were underestimated. The model had better effects at jointing, filling and dough stages than those at booting, blooming and heading stages.