Doppler signal is an important synthetic aperture radar (SAR) parameter for ocean dynamics remote sensing.It was first used for the retrieval of ocean surface dynamic processes in the late 1980s.In this paper,we review the researches on retrievals of sea surface dynamics from spaceborne SAR Doppler measurements including:(1) SAR interferometry techniques and related research progress for ocean surface currents retrieval;(2) SAR Doppler shift and its application in retrieval of upper ocean dynamics (i.e.geostrophic currents,quasi-geostrophic currents,and meso- and small-scale processes);(3) Relevant data fusion and important R&D programs around the world.However,China's remote sensing of sea currents is still in the initial stage,and highly focused on retrieval theory and techniques.The application of the retrieved information in study of upper ocean dynamics is still limited,so this review can serve as a reference for future studies in this direction.