Reliable sea surface slope times series, using a laseroptical receiver system deployed on a wave follower, are analyzed to yield slope frequency spectra of the ocean surface up to 300 Hz. The results show significant differences when compared with the Pierson and Stacy (1973) model. An empirical model is proposed in this paper that is consistent with the observed slope spectra. The newly proposed model is compared with other more recently advanced shortwave spectral models. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988