The SAR ocean images obtained in the Tower Ocean Wave and Radar Dependence Experiment (TOWARD) are carefully analyzed at different focus settings and compared with simulated results based on various theories for imaging surface waves. The agreement between the experimental data and all the SAR simulations except one is found to be favorable. There is also surprisingly close agreement among the different theoretical models themselves, suggesting a closer fundamental similarity among the contending theories than was previously thought. It is shown that the width of the focusing curve has an inverse dependence on the SAR integration time. For the TOWARD conditions it is found that the image modulation due to azimuth-traveling surface waves is greater than that due to range-traveling waves. ¿American Geophysical Union 1990