Previous authors have reported on sea-state local variations detected by satellite in the 0.8-1.1 μm channel (Landsat MSS 7). We first demonstrate that in this channel the observed change in reflectance is mainly due to sea-state. We use the Cox and Munk model to compute the sea-surface reflection coefficient for various geometrical conditions, and it is found that this model fits previous observations. The model is then, applied to cases of Landsat and SPOT sensors, and some useful recommendations are underlined.