Abstract Evidence for the radiometric determination of air–water interface temperature gradients is presented. Inherent radiometric characteristics in the water molecule cause variations in the absorption coefficient that allow radiation at near-infrared frequencies (2000–5000 wavenumbers, 2.0–5.0 μm) to carry information about subsurface water temperatures. This radiation leaving the surface is predominantly sensitive to water temperature in the layer between the surface and the “effective optical depth” (inverse of the absorption coefficient). Where atmospheric transmittance is high and/or the instrument is near the liquid, the radiance variations with frequency record temperature variations with depth. To measure the small radiance variations with frequency, an instrument must be radiometrically stable in suitable frequency bands with low instrument noise. A simulation of this technique's use for airborne beat flux measurement indicated feasibility from low altitudes at night. Laboratory experiments pr...