A simple gas temperature determination method based on the line ratio between two rotational peaks from the CO Angstrom rotational emission band is reported. A formula based on CO spectral synthesis provides a way for temperature control in plasmas containing CO molecules. This approach is validated in a CO2 flowing gas surfaguide microwave discharge operating at 2.45 GHz. The gas temperature results are compared with the ones obtained using a Boltzmann plot approach, as well as using direct comparison of measured and calculated rotational spectra of the same rotational band.