A nonparametric SSB model, derived using the TOPEX altimeter, is analyzed to show a new decomposition of the form SSB=bHs + f(σo), where b is 0.03 and the function of radar cross section (σo) is an absolute second‐order range correction residing outside the conventional nondimensional SSB model. Expected variability in the dominant bHs term and its ties to the long wave orbital velocity and shorter‐scale slope variances are discussed using a physically‐motivated restatement of recent EM bias theory. The geometry of steep near‐breaking waves, neglected within current theory, is invoked as one plausible explanation for the observed Hs‐independent SSB component.
