Passive Millimeter-Wave Imaging Simulation of Ship Kelvin Wakes Using Computation Fluid Dynamics Analysis

When a ship travels on the sea surface, it leaves long-lasting and extensive wakes. It is possible to get information about the ship through wakes indirectly. Passive millimeter-wave (PMMW) imaging is a possible means of detecting the ship and its wakes. This paper uses the computation fluid dynamics (CFD) software to analyze the wave height diagram of Kelvin wakes. Based on the ray-tracing method and the millimeter-wave brightness temperature (TB) physical model, the millimeter-wave radiation TB images of Kelvin wakes with multiple polarization modes and azimuth angles are simulated. The simulation results demonstrate that PMMW imaging has great potential for detecting Kelvin wakes. Different polarization modes and azimuth angles bring different TB distribution properties and contain different physical information.