The relationship between AVHRR thermal radiances and the surface (skin) temperature of Arctic snow-covered sea ice is examined through forward calculations of the radiative transfer equation, providing an ice/snow surface temperature retrieval algorithm for the central Arctic Basin. Temperature and humidity profiles with cloud observations collected on an ice island during 1986-1987 are used. Coefficients that correct for atmospheric attenuation are given for three Arctic clear sky ''seasons'', as defined through statistical analysis of the daily profiles, for the NOAA 7, 9, and 11 satellites. Modeled directional snow emissivities, different in the two split-window (11 and 12 μm) channels, are used. While the sensor scan angle is included explicitly in the correction equation, its effect in the dry Arctic atmosphere is small, generally less than 0.1 K. Using the split-window channels and scan angle, the rms error in the estimated ice surface temperature (IST) is less than 0.1 K in all seasons. Inclusion of channel 3 (3.7 μm) during the winter decreases the rms error by less than 0.003 K. The seasonal dependence of the coefficients is important, with errors in the range of 0.1-0.6 K when coefficients from one season are used with data from another. Similarly, mixing coefficients and data from different satellites results in average errors from 0.1 to 1.0 K. Overall, employing the IST coefficients results in increased accuracy of up to 0.6 K over SST coefficients developed for the North Atlantic and the Greenland Sea areas. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1992