The second-order small slope approximation (SSA2) method is introduced to study the Doppler characteristics from time-evolving sea surfaces. Simulation results show better agreement between the SSA2 model and the numerical method for both vertical and horizontal polarizations, meaning that SSA2 gives a satisfactory prediction of the spectral difference between two polarizations; while such discrepancy cannot be captured using the lowest-order SSA (SSA1) model. In particular, the Doppler shifts and spectral widths for different incident angles, wind directions and polarizations are analyzed, demonstrating correct variations with respect to such parameters. Those observations prove that the SSA2 provides an efficient and relatively fast tool for sea surface Doppler spectral analysis.