Radiatively determined temperatures (RDTs) are calculated to investigate the possible effect of the tropospheric temperatures through terrestrial radiation on the variations in the middle atmosphere temperatures. The effect is obtained as RDT anomalies corresponding to the observed tropospheric temperatures for 12 years. The RDT anomalies relative to the observed variations are found to be less 10% in the upper stratosphere, but 20--40% in the middle and lower stratosphere. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1992