Introduction -- Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) -- Radar Polarimetry -- Polarimetric Detector -- Polarimetric Detector Statistics -- Validation with airborne data -- Validation with satellite data -- Recent applications of perturbation filters -- Conclusions.-  Appendices.

This thesis presents a groundbraking methodology for the radar international community. The detection approach introduced, namely perturbation analysis, is completey novel showing a remarkable capability of thinking outside the box. Perturbation analysis is able to push forward the performance limits of current algorithms, allowing the detection of targets smaller than the resolution cell and highly embedded in clutter. The methodology itself is extraordinary flexibe and has already been used in two other large projects, funded by the ESA (European Space Agency): M-POL for maritime surveillance, and DRAGON-2 for land classification with particular attention to forests. This book is a perfectly organised piece of work where every detail and perspective is taken into account in order to provide a comprehensive vision of the problems and solutions.