Modelling the infrared and radar signature of the wake of a vessel

Every vessel moving in the sea, imprints a perturbation on the wave structure of the sea and forms a so-called wake. These wakes can be used in the detection of a target and can also help in identifying its characteristics. Several studies concentrated on detection of a target wake by making use of either radar or infrared sensors. We model the infrared and radar signature of the wake and sea surface background and investigate the synergy between the two bands. The primary goal of this work is to make a comparative study between the two bands in order to be able to discriminate which sensor gives a more reliable detection in which scenario.