Abstract: Satellite measurement of sea surface winds (SSW) is important in creating the fi rst fi eld of numerical weather prediction (NWP) and improving the marine forecasting accuracy. This paper reviews the international and domestic satellite SSW measurement missions, and tells the main differences of measured SSW products between the intensive and passive ways. It also describes the contributions of satellite derived SSW products to the NWP data assimilation, forecasting the intensity and path of tropical cyclone, and to climate research. In addition, the restriction in SSW products applications and the direction of further study are discussed here.