Cloud top height is the most basic and important parameter of cloud, and it is also an important parameter for studying airspace capacity, flight altitude configuration, weather forecast and early warning. The principles, advantages and disadvantages of the main methods for retrieving cloud top heights based on satellite data are described briefly in this paper. The single infrared window method, the solar reflectance-infrared window method, the H2O-infrared window method and the infrared split window zone method are introduced as the main point. And the related business algorithm of satellite is briefly reviewed. Then, the inversion of convective cloud top height by single infrared window method is verified. The results show that the inversion of opaque thick cloud by single infrared window method has high accuracy and correlation. Finally, the reasons affecting the accuracy of each method are analyzed and the future of cloud top height inversion methods is prospected.