Objective  This study focuses on the turning ship Kelvin wake and its electromagnetic scattering characteristics in order to provide a theoretical foundation for the detection and recognition of nonlinear ship wakes.

  Methods  Based on the existing Kelvin wake geometric modeling and coordinate transformation methods, a turning ship Kelvin wake is obtained by the continuous changing of a ship's heading. The semi-deterministic facet scattering model (SDFSM) is then used to simulate the electromagnetic scattering characteristics of the arc-shaped Kelvin wake, and calculations and comparisons are performed of the distribution of the facet scattering coefficients of a straight Kelvin wake and arc-shaped Kelvin wake under different navigation speeds and headings.

  Results  The various kinds of wave components of a turning ship Kelvin wake are different from those of a straight Kelvin wake. At the same time, the vertical reception-vertical transmission (VV) scattering characteristics of a composite straight Kelvin wake and the counterparts of a composite turning ship Kelvin wake, which are shown in the figures of scattering coefficient distribution, exhibit significantly different features.

  Conclusions  The brightness of the distribution of the Kelvin wake scattering coefficient and the wave vector directions of the different components of the wake are closely related to the relative relationship of radar direction. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for applications such as ship information perception, detection, recognition and stealth.