Radar Imaging of Surface Ship Wake Flows

Abstract

Promising results have been achieved in the development of radar diagnostic techniques for the mapping of water surface velocities in the laboratory environment of the Maneuvering and Sea Keeping Basin (MASK) at DTMB. High resolution measurements, with the Radar Image Modeling System (RIMS ) instrumentation radar, mapped the structure of the transverse surface velocities of the wake from a self-propelled ship model. The wake center has a broad distribution of transverse velocities with speeds of typically 10 cm/sec. The outer wake exhibits higher transverse velocities, e.g. 25 cm/ sec, which are interpreted as the sum of the water velocity and the capillary wave phase speed.