A thermal imager was used for measuring the canopy temperature to calculate crop water stress index (CWSI) of rice under water deficit condition. The CWSI varied diurnally with peaks appeared at noon, and soil water deficit led to higher CWSI values during noon. Transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (gs) and net photosynthetic rate (Pn) were high at low CWSI, and reduced with increasing CWSI. The relationship between CWSI and Pn, Tr or gs at noon was described by quadratic polynomial equations. At critical noon, CWSI values for the decline trend in Pn (0.303, 0.385 and 0.446 at tillering, panicle initiation to booting, milk to soft dough stage) were higher than for decline in Tr and gs. Assuming a 5% reduction in Pn from maximum is moderate water deficit, the critical CWSI values were 0.420, 0.472 and 0.536 at tillering, panicle initiation to booting and milk to soft dough stages. CWSI at 14:00 decreased significantly with increasing relative soil moisture contents. There was a slight difference between the linear relations under different vapor pressure deficit (VPD) conditions. The critical relative soil moisture contents for a 5% reduction in Pn were 1.57%, 1.18% and 1.27% higher under high VPD than low VPD conditions. It implied that rice water status was determined in conjunction with field soil moisture content and air aridity. The water deficit diagnosis based on canopy temperature tracked by thermal infrared imager is a promising method in reflecting the conjuncted function of soil moisture deficit and air aridity on crop water status.