Analysis of ship wake features and extraction of ship motion parameters from SAR images in the Yellow Sea

Abstract

The identifying features of ship wakes in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing images are of great importance for detecting ships and for extracting ship motion parameters. A statistical analysis was conducted on the identifying features of ship wakes in SAR images in the Yellow Sea. In this study, 1091 ship wake sub-images were selected from 327 SAR images in the Yellow Sea near Qingdao. Analysis of the identifying features of ship wakes in SAR images revealed that both turbulent wakes and Kelvin wakes account for the majority of ship wakes, with turbulent wakes occurring approximately four times as frequently as Kelvin wakes. Narrow- V wakes and internal wave wakes were comparatively rare, which is due to the peculiarities of the radar system parameters and marine environments required to observe these wakes. Additionally, we extracted ship motion parameters from four types of ship wakes in the SAR images. Specifically, internal wave wakes in SAR images in the Yellow Sea were also used to extract ship motion parameters. Validation of the extracted parameters indicated that the extraction of these parameters from ship wakes is a viable and accurate approach for the acquisition of ship motion parameters. These results provide a solid foundation for the commercialization of SAR-based technologies for detecting ships and extracting ship motion parameters.