Heat transfer measurements from a rotating two-pass square channel with two opposite leading and trailing walls roughened by 45 degrees parallel ribs arranged in the staggered manner are performed to examine the effects of Reynolds (Re), rotation (Ro) and buoyancy (Bu) numbers on local and area-averaged Nusselt numbers (Nu and (Nu) over bar). Full-field Nu distributions over the two rib-roughened leading and trailing walls are measured at the conditions of 4000 <= Re <= 16,000, 0 <= Ro <= 0.8 and 0.0015 <= Bu <= 0.93 (0.05 <= Delta rho/rho <= 0.1) using the infrared thermography which allows for the detailed examination of the Coriolis and rotating buoyancy effects on Nu distributions over the rotating ribbed surface. Selected heat transfer data in term of Nu ratio between rotating and stationary levels illustrates the influences of rotation on local and area-averaged heat transfer performances. Area-averaged (Nu) over bar for the turn region and the inlet and outlet ribbed legs of the rotating two-pass channel are parametrically analyzed to devise a set of empirical heat transfer correlations that permits the evaluation of the interdependent and individual effects of Re, Ro and Bu on (Nu) over bar. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.