  Among other remote sensing technologies, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has
become firmly established in the practice of oceanographic research. Despite
solid experience in this field, comprehensive knowledge and interpretation of
ocean/sea and vessel wave signatures on radar images are still very
challenging. Many technical parameters and scanning conditions vary for
different SAR platforms, which also imposes some restrictions on the
cross-analysis of their respective images. Numerical simulation of SAR images
allows the analysis of many radar imaging parameters including environmental,
ship, or platform related. In this paper, we present a universal simulation
framework for SAR imagery of the sea surface, which includes the superposition
of sea-ship waves. This paper is the first attempt to cover exhaustively all
SAR imaging effects for the sea waves and ship wakes scene. The study is based
on well proven concepts: the linear theory of sea surface modeling, Michell
thin-ship theory for Kelvin wake modeling, and ocean SAR imaging theory. We
demonstrate the role of two main factors that affect imaging of both types of
waves: (i) SAR parameters and (ii) Hydrodynamic related parameters such as wind
state and Froude number. The SAR parameters include frequency, signal
polarization, mean incidence angle, image resolution, variation by scanning
platform (airborne or spaceborne) of the range-to-velocity (R/V) ratio, and
velocity bunching with associated shifting, smearing and azimuthal cutoff
effects. We perform modeling for five wave frequency spectra and four ship
models. We also compare spectra in two aspects: with Cox and Munk's probability
density function (PDF), and with a novel proposed evaluation of ship wake
detectability. The simulation results agree well with SAR imaging theory. The
study gives a fuller understanding of radar imaging mechanisms for sea waves
and ship wakes.
