Methods of Radar Image Processing to Increase the Probability of Detecting a Ship’s Track and Estimating its Absolute Speed

In this paper, methods of processing radar images to increase the probability of detecting a ship’s trace are considered. The article takes into account the impact of various types of noise affecting the probability of detection. Various methods of digital processing are considered, such as: the use of the Lee filter, the use of the Sobel operator for edge detection, as well as the method of complex exposure based on contrast with gamma correction and the search for boundaries to increase the contrast of the image. Modeling was carried out in a package of application programs for solving technical computing problems and the most effective method for solving the problem of detecting the ship’s trace was identified. A method for determining the azimuthal displacement of a vessel relative to its wake and estimating the absolute speed based on automatic detection of the ship’s wake is also proposed.