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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/I036877/1
Title: GG-TOP: Gravity Gradient - Technologies and Opportunities Programme
Principal Investigator: Bongs, Professor K
Other Investigators:
Wang, Dr C Gaffney, Professor VL Boyer, Dr V
Freise, Professor A Rogers, Professor CDF Atkins, Mr P
Baldwin, Mr E Metje, Professor N Vecchio, Professor A
Chapman, Professor DN
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
AECOM (International) Cardno TBE CH2M HILL
Environmental Sustainability KTN ICES JK Guest Group
National Grid National Subsea Research Initiative National Underground Assets Group Ltd
UK Society for Trenchless Technolody UK Water Industry Research Ltd (UKWIR)
Department: School of Physics and Astronomy
Organisation: University of Birmingham
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 October 2011 Ends: 31 March 2016 Value (£): 2,515,589
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Multiphase Flow
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
22 Mar 2011 Novel Technologies for Cross-disciplinary Research Interview Panel Announced
01 Mar 2011 Novel Technologies for Cross-disciplinary Research Sift Panel Meeting Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Gravity measurements exert a particular fascination ranging from the everyday experience of feeling the gravitational force holding us on ground to the mysteries of general relativity and space time. Compared to other forces gravity is surprisingly weak, making shielding of gravitation practically impossible. Gravity measurements are ideally suited to look deep inside the ground and they have been used for over 100 years in fields as oil and mineral exploration, underground mapping and climate research. However, although gravity measurements are highly valued, there are some drawbacks in terms of long and tedious measurements and geological noise. GG-TOP responds to an increasingly pressing demand for a holistic development programme driving sensitivity of instrumentation, modelling instrument and geological noise, discriminating underground objects, fusing and presenting the information from multi-sensor systems.

The GG-TOP consortium is truely multi-disciplinary uniting fundamental and applied physicists, civil and electrical engineers and archaeologists behind a joint goal. GG-TOP has a strong Stakeholder compontent with interactions at all levels and potential users directly influencing the research programme. GG-TOP will explicitly evaluate the potential of its new technology in applications as diverse as urban infrastructure (pipes, cables...) and void (cellars, tunnels,..) mapping, seabed inspection, archaeology and fundamental tests of physics.

We anticipate the outcome of this programme to be a technology suite adaptable to various needs and leading to a range of follow-on product development programmes.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Impacts
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Summary
Date Materialised
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Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.bham.ac.uk