An analysis of the transfer of microwave radiation with a frequency between 10 and 40 GHz through a cloud-free atmosphere is given, and the limitations of employing observations at 22.236 GHz for sensing the columnar water vapor (CWV) in the moist atmosphere (CWV>40 kg m-2) are shown. It is because of this limitation that a new method for the retrieval of columnar water vapor is described. This method uses both the horizontally and vertically polarized brightness temperatures measured at 19.35 GHz by the special sensor microwave imager (SSMI) which was launched as part of the Defense Military Satellite Program. The water vapor derived from the SSMI observations is validated against radiosonde observations that are near coincident in time and space with an rms error of 6 kg m-2. This large rms is in part due to sensitivity of the retrieval method to the surface emission. Distributions of CWV over the oceans were obtained for a 3-month period starting September 1987. These results are compared to other water vapor retrievals for the same period using the same microwave radiance data; they show close agreement except over the warmest water in the equatorial tropics. ¿1991 American Geophysical Union