Meet the experts
Ground Evolution Monitoring combines decades of world-leading academic research with real-world application, to give clients precise, decision-ready insight on ground and infrastructure movement from our cutting-edge technology.
Dr James Lawrence
Mangaging Director
PhD, MSc, BSc, FGS, FHEA
Geological engineering specialist with over 20 years’ experience supporting major UK infrastructure and nuclear sector projects.
Reader in Geological Engineering at Imperial College London, specialising in chalk geology, rock engineering, and InSAR remote sensing.
Vice Chair of the British Geotechnical Association (BGA).
Technical contributor to HS2, Thames Tideway and the UK’s Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) programme.
Author of 50+ publications and two books; supervised 20+ research students.
-
James is a Reader in Geological Engineering at Imperial College London, specialising in upper Cretaceous carbonate geology, rock engineering, and InSAR remote sensing. His research supports civil infrastructure, the energy sector, and climate change impact assessment. He has contributed to major UK infrastructure projects including HS2, Thames Tideway, and the Lower Thames Crossing, and has extensive experience across the nuclear power lifecycle from construction through decommissioning to geological disposal of radioactive waste.
James joined Imperial in 2016 following a role as Geological Investigations Manager at Radioactive Waste Management Ltd, where he led site characterisation for the UK's Geological Disposal Facility programme. Earlier in his career, he held academic positions at the University of Leeds, where he was Director of Masters Education, and the University of Brighton, where his PhD research focused on chalk engineering properties in coastal environments. He has also worked as a geologist in the petroleum industry.
He has led over 30 research projects, supervised more than 20 research students, and authored over 50 publications and two books. Current projects include the StARRS programme developing InSAR monitoring for nuclear decommissioning, Tideway tunnel ground movement detection, and coastal cliff evolution research.
James is Vice Chair of the British Geotechnical Association and serves on the editorial board of the Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology.
Dr Stewart Agar
Technical Director
PhD, MRes, DIC, MEng, FGS
InSAR remote sensing specialist and technical lead, developing automated monitoring solutions for ground and infrastructure movement.
Leading development of OpenInSAR - GEM’s InSAR processing software.
Postdoctoral Research Associate on the EDF Energy-funded StARRS programme for nuclear asset monitoring.
Specialist in achieving reliable InSAR measurements in rural and vegetated environments where conventional techniques struggle through a novel processing technique (Transient Scatterers, TS).
Extensive industry experience, including ground monitoring for high-speed rail and mine stability analysis.
-
Stewart is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Geotechnics section at Imperial College London, specialising in InSAR remote sensing and its application to infrastructure monitoring. His current research on the StARRS project, funded by EDF Energy, focuses on developing highly automated InSAR systems for monitoring nuclear decommissioning assets and developing Imperial's open-source OpenInSAR software.
Stewart's doctoral research at Imperial, funded by Radioactive Waste Management Ltd and EPSRC, addressed a fundamental challenge in InSAR: achieving reliable measurements in rural and vegetated environments where conventional techniques struggle.
Stewart holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering and an MRes in Nuclear Energy from Imperial College London, and an MEng in Nuclear Engineering from Lancaster University. During his PhD, he worked as part of the Secretariat for the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management. He has applied InSAR commercially for high-speed rail ground condition monitoring and mine stability analysis, and contributed to CIRIA guidelines on earth observation and InSAR technology for civil infrastructure.
Dr Anthony Carpenter
Operations & Science Director
PhD, MRes, DIC, MSc, BSc, FGS
Remote sensing and GIS specialist with a physical sciences background, applying satellite and drone InSAR to infrastructure and geotechnical monitoring.
Invented bespoke drone radar hardware and software, delivering improved spatial and temporal data resolutions for InSAR compared to satellite systems.
Former Postdoctoral Research Associate on the EDF Energy-funded StARRS programme for nuclear asset monitoring.
Contributed to industry-adopted technical guidance, including National Highways reports on InSAR for geotechnical asset management and corner reflectors.
Led the UK Space Agency and Indian Space Research Organisation bilateral programme for space radar exploration of the Moon and Venus.
Dr Philippa Mason
Advisor and co-director
PhD, DIC, MSc, BSc, FGS, FRSPSoc, SFHEA, ARSM
Planetary remote sensing expert with over 25 years’ experience applying satellite imagery to geohazards, ground deformation, and geological monitoring.
Associate Professor in Planetary Remote Sensing at Imperial College London, specialising in the use of satellite imagery to study rocks, minerals, geology and geomorphology.
NASA co-investigator and ESA Inter-Disciplinary Scientist for the EnVision radar mission to Venus.
Founding member of Imperial College London’s Earth Observation Network.
Recipient of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Award 2016.
-
Anthony specialises in drone and satellite InSAR for infrastructure monitoring and geotechnical engineering. His doctoral research at Imperial College London pioneered the development of drone-borne radar systems for InSAR, creating bespoke hardware and software solutions that provide improved spatial and temporal resolution compared to satellite systems.
As a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial, Anthony’s research on the StARRS project, funded by EDF Energy, developed integrated drone and satellite InSAR systems for long-term structural health monitoring of nuclear decommissioning assets. He also contributed to National Highways technical guidance on corner reflector installation and the application of InSAR for geotechnical asset management. Prior to this, as a Research Assistant at Royal Holloway, he led the Chandrayaan-2 and Shukrayaan-1 pre-phase A bilateral programme between the UK Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation, advancing mission planning for space radar exploration of the Moon and Venus.
Anthony holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering and an MRes in Nuclear Energy from Imperial College London, an MSc in Environmental Monitoring from King's College London, and a BSc in Geography from Royal Holloway.
Prof. Richard Ghail
Advisor and co-director
PhD, BSc, FRAS, SFHEA, FGS, ARSM, CGeol
Engineering geologist with over 25 years’ experience in radar remote sensing, pioneering InSAR applications on Earth and Venus.
Professor of Planetary and Engineering Geology at Royal Holloway, University of London, specialising in intraplate tectonic processes on Earth and Venus.
Founded the Engineering Scale Geology Research Group (ESGRG), applying InSAR techniques to ground investigation and civil engineering.
Pioneered InSAR measurement of fault movements with millimetric precision, and the detection of passive faults through their effects on groundwater flow.
Leads the ESA EnVision mission to Venus, applying radar techniques to planetary science.
-
Philippa is an Associate Professor in Planetary Remote Sensing at Imperial College London, specialising in the use of satellite imagery to study rocks, minerals, geology and geomorphology on Earth and other planets. Her research spans InSAR applications for geohazards and ground deformation monitoring, spectral geology, UAV imaging, and machine learning techniques for image processing. She is a founding member of Imperial's Earth Observation Network and received the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Award in 2016 for her distinguished contributions to the field.
Philippa's work translates terrestrial Earth Observation techniques to planetary science, applying InSAR and imaging spectroscopy to understand geological features and processes on Venus and Mars. She was appointed by NASA in 2022 as a co-investigating scientist on the VenSAR Science Team for the EnVision mission to Venus, and in 2025 was appointed by the European Space Agency as an Inter-Disciplinary Scientist for the mission's preparation phases ahead of launch in 2031. EnVision will image Venus from orbit over three years, seeking to understand whether our nearest planetary neighbour is geologically active and whether it was once habitable.
Philippa holds a BSc in Geology from Southampton University, an MSc in Remote Sensing from University College London, and a PhD from Imperial College London. She has combined academic research with industry consulting throughout her career, and joined Imperial's Department of Earth Science and Engineering in 2000.
-
Richard is Professor of Planetary and Engineering Geology at Royal Holloway, University of London, specialising in intraplate tectonic processes on Earth and Venus. He uses radar interferometry to measure fault movements at the millimetre-per-year level - an order of magnitude smaller than previously possible - enabling the first quantitative assessment of intraplate deformation. This work led to the discovery that London is geologically active, with implications for ground engineering and infrastructure across the capital.
Richard founded the Engineering Scale Geology Research Group to develop InSAR techniques for ground investigation, applying the same methods used to detect active faults to identify passive faults through their effects on groundwater flow, and to monitor ground movements relevant to civil engineering.
Richard proposed and leads the ESA EnVision mission to Venus, selected in 2021 as ESA's fifth Medium-class mission for launch in 2031. EnVision will apply Earth Observation techniques to characterise and measure tectonic and volcanic activity on Venus, seeking to understand how our nearest planetary neighbour evolved so differently from Earth.
Press & publications
CIRIA
The GEM team co-authored CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association) InSAR and Earth Observation techniques for infrastructure (C805) - the definitive industry reference for applying InSAR to infrastructure monitoring.
CIRIA is the UK construction industry's leading research and knowledge organisation, and their guidance documents set the standard for professional practice across civil engineering, infrastructure, and geotechnics.
The document improves accessibility to EO technology by providing infrastructure owners, asset managers, and engineering consultants with a clear framework for understanding InSAR techniques, specifying appropriate products, and interpreting results.
This includes detailed methods tables, mathematical definitions, and illustrated case studies demonstrating real-world applications.
Our contribution to C805 reflects GEM's position at the intersection of research and industry practice. We don't just conduct InSAR analysis - we helped define the procedures, quality standards, and best practices that the wider industry now follows. When clients work with GEM, they're working with the team that literally wrote the book on InSAR for infrastructure.
Mapping London’s ground movement
Research at Imperial College London, supervised by GEM’s Richard Ghail and Philippa Mason, produced the first comprehensive InSAR ground deformation map of Greater London, revealing millimetre-scale movements across the capital that had previously gone undetected.
150 satellite radar images from 2011-2017 were processed using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI), revealing over 1.7 million measurement points across the city.
The deformation map captured public attention when it was featured in The London Standard, vividly illustrating the route of Crossrail tunnelling as a red line of subsidence meandering east-west across central London.
Beyond the tunnelling signature, the research revealed the effects of deep chalk aquifer dewatering at the Limmo Peninsula in East London, detected previously unmapped geological faults acting as barriers to groundwater flow, and identified ground movements associated with electrical ducting projects and construction activity across the capital.
The work, published in the Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, demonstrated that London's ground is far more dynamic than previously understood and established the foundation for applying InSAR monitoring to major infrastructure projects across the UK.
Drone radar development
Research at Imperial College London, led by GEM’s Anthony Carpenter, developed one of the world’s first drone radar systems capable of InSAR monitoring; downscaling satellite remote sensing technology to provide higher resolution deformation mapping with improved operational flexibility.
Our publication in Drones presents the novel invention of horn antennas fabricated from Copper Clad Laminate (CCL) - a lightweight printed circuit board material that provides the rigid structure and conductive surface required for radar transmission, while remaining suitable for drone deployment.
Our publication in Remote Sensing demonstrates the first SAR imagery from the drone radar system at Flint Hall Farm, an active landslide adjacent to the M25 motorway. Corner reflectors and monitoring instrumentation are clearly visible in the resulting imagery, validating the system's capability for infrastructure and geohazard monitoring.
Testing and validation of the drone radar system has been supported by the Satellite Applications Catapult, whose Drone Test and Development Centre provides the open flying areas, diverse land cover, and sensor test range facilities essential for rigorous hardware validation. A case study published on the Catapult website documents this collaboration and outlines plans to integrate drone and satellite InSAR into a combined monitoring system.
Further research and publications
Explore our wider research and technical contributions:
-
Shire, T., Lawrence, J., Agar, S., Ghail, R. and Judge, T., 2022. Satellite remote sensing of UK embankment dams: influence of dam features on monitoring quality. Dams and Reservoirs, 33(2), 71-81. (DOI: 10.1680/jdare.22.00083)
-
Wang, Z., Lawrence, J., Ghail, R., Mason, P., Carpenter, A., Agar, S. and Morgan, T., 2022. Characterizing Micro-Displacements on Active Faults in the Gobi Desert with Time-Series InSAR. Applied Sciences, 12(9), 4222. (DOI: 10.3390/app12094222)
-
Scoular, J., Ghail, R., Mason, P. and Lawrence, J., 2022. Are measured InSAR displacements a function of the chosen processing method? Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 55(4), 2022-049. (DOI: 10.1144/qjegh2022-049)
-
Scoular, J., Ghail, R., Mason, P., Lawrence, J., Bellhouse, M., Holley, R. and Morgan, T., 2020. Retrospective InSAR analysis of East London during the construction of the Lee Tunnel. Remote Sensing, 12(5), 849. (DOI: 10.3390/rs12050849)
-
Mider, G., Lawrence, J., Mason, P. and Ghail, R., 2020. Monitoring Littoral Platform Downwearing Using Differential SAR Interferometry. Remote Sensing, 12(19), 3243. (DOI: 10.3390/rs12193243)
-
Scoular, J.M., Croft, J., Ghail, R.C., Mason, P.J., Lawrence, J.A. and Stoianov, I., 2020. Limitations of Persistent Scatterer Interferometry to measure small seasonal ground movements in an urban environment. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 53(1), 39-48. (DOI: 10.1144/qjegh2018-160)
-
O’Connor, W., Mider, G., Lawrence, J.A., Agar, S., Mason, P.J., Ghail, R. and Scoular, J., 2021. An Investigation into Ground Movement on the Ventnor Landslide Complex, UK Using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry. Remote Sensing, 13(18), 3711. (DOI: 10.3390/rs13183711)
-
Agar, S.A., Lawrence, J.A., Ghail, R.C., Mason, P.J. and Thompson, S., 2018. PSInSAR remote sensing observations of deformation behaviour at Salisbury Plain, UK. In Engineering in Chalk: Proceedings of the Chalk 2018 Conference, 269-274. ICE Publishing. (DOI: 10.1680/eiccf.64072.269)
