Aiming to determine the polarization characteristics of the sea surface in the infrared wave band, a model of the polarization bidirectional reflection distribution function (pBRDF) for sea surface micro-elements was developed based on the micro-facet BRDF. Considering the effects of emission and reflection from a sea surface on the radiation received by the detector during radiation transmission, a novel model of sea surface infrared polarization characteristics was proposed. The elevation and slope of the sea surface could be captured using the Elfouhaily wave spectra and fast Fourier transforms (FFTs). Then, the degrees of linear polarization of sea surface emission and reflection radiation for different observation and incident zenith angles and for different wind speeds were calculated.Infrared polarization images of the sea surface and a ship were simulated. Through a comparative analysis of simulated data and the data obtained from the literature, the results show that the model established in this paper is suitable for investigating the infrared polarization characteristics of the sea surface. Compared with infrared images based on light intensity information, the infrared polarization images provide more details about the sea surface. Meanwhile, the differences in polarization characteristics between the target and sea surface are clearer, and the contrast between the sea surface and target is higher. The model proposed in this paper is of significance in the detection of maritime targets in the infrared wave band.