The respirometric technique has been used to analyze the nitrification process in a sequencing batch reactor(SBR) treating municipal wastewater. Especially the profile of the respiration rate very well expressed the reaction characteristics of nitrification. As the nitrification process required a significant amount of oxygen for nitrogen oxidation, the respiration rate due to nitrification was high. The maximum nitrification respiration rate, which was about 50 mg O2/L･h under the period of sufficient nitrification, was related directly to the nitrification reaction rate and showed the nitrifiers activity. The growth rate of nitrifiers is the most critical parameter in the design of the biological nutrient removal systems. On the basis of nitrification kinetics, the maximum specific growth rate of nitrifiers in the SBR was estimated as 0.91 d-1 at 20℃, and the active biomass of nitrifiers was calculated as 23 mg VSS/L and it was about 2% of total biomass.