This article presents an experimental study of the local heat transfer on the rotor surface in a discoidal rotor-stator system air-gap in which an air jet comes through the stator and impinges the rotor. To determine the surface temperatures, measurements were taken on the rotor, using an experimental technique based on infrared thermography. A thermal balance was used to identify the local convective heat transfer coefficient. The influence of the dimensionless spacing interval G between the disks and of the rotational Reynolds number Re was measured and compared with the data available in bibliography. Local convective heat transfer coefficients were obtained for an axial Reynolds number Re-j = 41.6 x 10(3), a rotational Reynolds number Re between 0.2 x 10(5) and 5.16 x 10(5), and a dimensionless spacing interval G ranging from 0.01 to 0.16. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.