In this paper, we put forward a new method to reduce the calculation amount of the gain matrix of Kalman filter in data assimilation. We rewrite the vector describing the total state variables with two vectors whose dimensions are small and thus obtain the main parts and the trivial parts of the state variables. On the basis of the rewrittten formula, we not only develop a reduced Kalman filter scheme, but also obtain the transition equations about truncation errors, with which the validity of the main parts acting for the total state variables can be evaluated quantitatively. The error transition equations thus offer an indirect testimony to the rationality of the main parts.