This paper presents a neural network methodology to retrieve wind vectors from ERS-1 scatterometer data. First, a neural network (NN-INVERSE) computes the most probable wind vectors. Probabilities for the estimated wind direction are given. At least 75% of the most probable wind directions are consistent with European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts winds (at ¿20¿). Then the remaining ambiguities are resolved by an adapted PRESCAT method that uses the probabilities provided by NN-INVERSE. Several statistical tests are presented to evaluate the skill of the method. The good performance is mainly due to the use of a spatial context and to the probabilistic approach adopted to estimate the wind direction. Comparisons with other methods are also presented. The good performance of the neural network method suggests that a self-consistent wind retrieval from ERS-1 scatterometer is possible. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union