Wireless sensor network (WSN) possesses very broad application prospect in many fields, where the node location technology is one of the key technologies of WSN. Distance vector hop (DV-Hop) localization algorithm is a widely used algorithm in this technology, and it uses routing exchange protocol to make unknown nodes obtain beacon node information which will be used for coordinate calculation, therefore there exists certain error for the algorithm itself. Aiming at the disadvantage of large error existing in the traditional wireless sensor network location algorithm based on DV-Hop, an improved DV-Hop algorithm based on hop thinning and distance correction is proposed. The minimum hop is corrected by introducing received signal strength indication (RSSI) ranging technology, and the average hop distance is corrected by weighted average value of hop distance error and estimated distance error. Subsequently, the overall improvement on the location performance of the Hop-DV location algorithm is realized, and the location error is reduced. Under the Matlab simulation environment, the simulation experiment on the improved algorithm is carried out. The experimental results show that the improved algorithm reduces the location error and has higher location accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]