'Fingerprint' correlation studies of air temperatures have recently suggested the emergence of climate change patterns that are consistent with those simulated by Global Climate Models. Here we investigate the possibility of searching for climate change patterns within directly observed satellite radiance fields in order to utilise the vast amount of data available. As a first example of a technique which could be employed we extend the commonly used pattern matching statistics to develop a 'spectral-spatial fingerprint' method for the detection of climate change. To illustrate the technique, we apply it to two satellite channels: HIRS ch. 12, sensitive to upper tropospheric water vapour, and SSU ch. 1, sensitive to mid-stratospheric temperatures centred at 15 hPa. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union