An approach of lidar measurements of ocean temperature through measuring the spectral linewidth of the backscattered Brillouin lines is presented. An empirical equation for the temperature as a function of Brillouin linewidth and salinity is derived. Theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The equation also reveals the dependence of the temperature on the salinity and Brillouin linewidth. It is shown that the uncertainty of the salinity has very little impact on the temperature measurement. The uncertainty of this temperature measurement methodology is approximately 0.02 Celsius degree.