Efficient techniques for estimating specific absorption rate (SAR) for wireless devices. In an aspect, electric and/or magnetic field measurements are made over a two-dimensional (2D) surface in the proximity of a wireless device. The field measurements are used to generate a near-field equivalent source representation of the wireless device. Specific absorption rate over, e.g., a 1 g/10 g mass may then be calculated by performing electromagnetic simulations using the near-field equivalent source representation. In an aspect, an elementary dipole array may be used to generate the near-field equivalent source representation from the field measurements.