Microwave radiation from the ocean rough surface is considered using a small slope expansion. The emphasis is on azimuthal variations of the brightness temperature, related to the anisotropy of wind-generated sea waves. The first and second harmonics, describing the upwind-downwind and upwind-crosswind differences, respectively, are considered using existing models of the sea spectrum. For modeling of the first harmonic the small deviation from Gaussian statistics of the sea surface is introduced to estimate the effect of longwave asymmetry and the distribution of ripples over the long waves. Numerical analysis shows that the longwave asymmetry cannot explain the observed values of the first harmonic in azimuthal variations of the brightness temperature. The ripple modulation by long waves is a possible mechanism explaining the first harmonic in moderate winds, although foam and wave breaks have to be included in electromagnetic modeling to achieve a quantitative agreement with experiments. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union