An in-process estimation of the ground surface roughness is a bottle-neck and an essential field in conventional grinding operation. We defined the dimensionless average roughness factor (D.A.R.F) that exhibits a roughness characteristics of ground surface. The D.A.R.F was composed easily of the absolute average and the standard deviation values which were the analytic parameters of the acoustic emission (AE) signal generated during the machining process. The theoretical equation between the surface roughness and the D.A.R.F has been derived from the linear regressive analysis and verified its availability through the experimentation on the surface grinding machine.