The advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA 7 satellite acquires 1-km spatial resolution data in ''split window'' channels at 10.8 and 11.9 μm. Data from these spectral channels may be used to estimate surface temperature and the atmospheric correction to radiation from the earth's surface. Analysis of a data set from July 1981 shows that (1) there is satisfactory agreement between the equation resulting from radiative transfer theory and the atmospheric correction algorithm as obtained by analysis of an area of incipient cloud street formation; (2) agreement is also satisfactory between this algorithm and the statistically derived NOAA algorithm used to obtain sea surface temperatures from the satellite data (However, the comparison assumes the NOAA algorithm is valid outside its range of derivation.); (3) in areas of cloud street formation, variations of atmospheric moisture produce radiance temperature differences of order 2-3¿C, which if neglected would cause errors in the derivation of surface thermal characteristics. This meteorological variation over distances of 5-10 km would not be inferred from conventional radiosonde measurements or from lower-resolution satellite soundings.