Microwave Sounding Unit Data

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Temperatures in the lowest 8km (5 miles) of the troposphere were 0.14°C (0.25°F) above the 1979-1998 average during March-May 2003 Temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were 0.24°C (0.43°F) above the mean for March-May 2003 Temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere were 0.04°C (0.07°F) above the mean for March-May 2003 Meanwhile, temperatures for May 2003 in the lower troposphere were 0.18°C (0.32°F) above average

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March-May 2003 temperatures were below the 1984-1990 average in the lower stratosphere, -0.27°C (-0.49°F) cooler than the mean Stratospheric temperatures in May 2003 were also below average globally, with a departure of -0.31°C (-0.59°F)

Lower tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperature data are collected by NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and adjusted for time-dependent biases by NASA and the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.