The Tower Ocean Wave and Radar Dependence Experiment (TOWARD) is a coordinated effort, involving both field experimentation and theoretical investigations, to address the divergent hypotheses on the mechanisms involved in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging of the ocean surface. In the formulation of the experiment it was recognized that three distinct disciplines were to be addressed: (1) hydrodynamics, (2) radar backscatter, and (3) SAR image processing. The field operations were executed in three 6-week segments during the period October 1984 to January 1986. The Naval Ocean Systems Center tower, located offshore of Mission Beach, San Diego, California, was used as the focal point for the field operations. The primary measurements included in situ capillary and short gravity waves, long surface waves and internal waves, ambient current and detailed meteorological measurements, stereophotography, tower-based multifrequency radars and an L band SAR deployed on board the NASA CV-990. The single most significant result is the determination that none of the available hypotheses on SAR imaging of long surface waves could be demonstrated to explain all the SAR observations obtained in TOWARD. Specific results are reported. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988