Ship motion estimation from polarized Doppler spectra from ship wakes on two-dimensional sea surfaces

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the Doppler spectra from ship wakes on two-dimensional sea surfaces and further estimate the ship motion characteristics. The analysis of the ship wakes is helpful to detect the existence of ships on sea surface. And it will be an alternative method when the radar cross-section values are not competent to identify the ship target. In the study, Doppler spectra for different polarizations are compared with and without ship’s wakes based on the second-order small slope approximation method. As expected, there appears the second spectral peak when ship’s wake is considered. Moreover, the ship velocities, wind speed, and direction are also analyzed. As the results shown, there is a good linearity relation between the position of the second Doppler spectral peak and the ship velocity. Therefore, it is feasible to detect ship according the Doppler spectra.