Sea surface currents in coastal oceans are accessible to continuous direct observations by shore-based high-frequency Doppler radar systems. Inferring current structure in shallow water from such surface current observations is attempted. The approach assumes frictionally dominated flow and vertically varying current velocity on the scale of the Ekman boundary layer. The approximation of the velocity variation with depth is consequently derivable in terms of orthogonal basis functions from the sea surface kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions; specifically, the viscous momentum and shear equations evaluated at the sea surface. The inference procedure developed is demonstrated with sea surface data obtained in the coastal High-Resolution Remote Sensing Experiment on the continental shelf off Cape Hatteras. Despite uncertainties in the surface measurements, qualitative agreement is obtained between the inferred subsurface current and the current measured in situ. The sensitivity of the inference to the measurement uncertainties as well as to the model assumptions is investigated, and the inferred result is found to be generally robust. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union