The radio astronomy explorer satellite (RAE 1) measures noise temperatures at an altitude of about 6000 km on frequencies from 0.2 to 9.2 MHz. By taking into account the effects of ionospheric shielding on terrestrial noise propagating to RAE 1 from the earth's surface it is shown that on frequencies above the critical frequency the noise observed by RAE 1 at 6000 km over the United States during nighttime is about 6--12 dB higher when thunderstorms are reportedly active within the viewing area than when they are not. The highest level is associated with the most intense storm. When the RAE observed temperature is expressed as an equivalent average temperature of the observable source region at the surface, it appears that the noise is principally of manmade origin when thunderstorms are absent; the equivalent nonstorm temperature varies from about 65 dB(>288¿K) at 3.93 MHz to 55 dB at 9.18 MHz in both autumn and winter. It is concluded that 'thundery' regions can be detected by an orbiting satellite using HF radio techniques but ionospheric effects cannot be neglected.