Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring Network
Abstract Space weather, a natural hazard, can adversely impact human technological assets. High‐voltage electric power transmission grids constitute one of the most critical technological systems vulnerable to space weather driven geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). One of the major challenges...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Space Weather |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023SW003532 |
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| _version_ | 1841536449363574784 |
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| author | Chigomezyo M. Ngwira Robert Arritt Charles Perry James M. Weygand Rishi Sharma |
| author_facet | Chigomezyo M. Ngwira Robert Arritt Charles Perry James M. Weygand Rishi Sharma |
| author_sort | Chigomezyo M. Ngwira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Space weather, a natural hazard, can adversely impact human technological assets. High‐voltage electric power transmission grids constitute one of the most critical technological systems vulnerable to space weather driven geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). One of the major challenges pertaining to the study of GICs over the continental United States has been the availability of GIC measurements, which are critical for validation of geoelectric field and power flow models, for example. In this study, we analyze GIC measurements collected at 17 Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI) SUNBURST transformer locations across the United States for which a GIC value of 10 A or greater was recorded. This data set includes 52 individual geomagnetic storms with Kp index 6 and above during the period from 2010 to 2021. The analysis confirms that there is a good correlation between the number of geomagnetic storms per year and the number of recorded GIC events. Our results also show that about 76% of the top 17 GIC events are associated with the storm main phase, while only 24% are attributed to storm sudden commencements. In addition, it is shown, for the first time, that mid‐latitude positive bays can cause large GICs over the continental United States. Finally, this study shows that the largest measured GIC event in the data set was associated with a localized intense dB/dt structure, which could be attributed to substorm activity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ec43a0182081449c88a5b0f09fa95fbf |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1542-7390 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Space Weather |
| spelling | doaj-art-ec43a0182081449c88a5b0f09fa95fbf2025-01-14T16:30:45ZengWileySpace Weather1542-73902023-12-012112n/an/a10.1029/2023SW003532Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring NetworkChigomezyo M. Ngwira0Robert Arritt1Charles Perry2James M. Weygand3Rishi Sharma4Orion Space Solutions Louisville CO USAElectrical Power Research Institute Palo Alto CA USAElectrical Power Research Institute Palo Alto CA USADepartment of Earth, Planetary, and Space Science University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USAElectrical Power Research Institute Palo Alto CA USAAbstract Space weather, a natural hazard, can adversely impact human technological assets. High‐voltage electric power transmission grids constitute one of the most critical technological systems vulnerable to space weather driven geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). One of the major challenges pertaining to the study of GICs over the continental United States has been the availability of GIC measurements, which are critical for validation of geoelectric field and power flow models, for example. In this study, we analyze GIC measurements collected at 17 Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI) SUNBURST transformer locations across the United States for which a GIC value of 10 A or greater was recorded. This data set includes 52 individual geomagnetic storms with Kp index 6 and above during the period from 2010 to 2021. The analysis confirms that there is a good correlation between the number of geomagnetic storms per year and the number of recorded GIC events. Our results also show that about 76% of the top 17 GIC events are associated with the storm main phase, while only 24% are attributed to storm sudden commencements. In addition, it is shown, for the first time, that mid‐latitude positive bays can cause large GICs over the continental United States. Finally, this study shows that the largest measured GIC event in the data set was associated with a localized intense dB/dt structure, which could be attributed to substorm activity.https://doi.org/10.1029/2023SW003532space weathergeomagnetically induced currentsGIC measurementsstatistical analysismid‐latitude positive baypower grid |
| spellingShingle | Chigomezyo M. Ngwira Robert Arritt Charles Perry James M. Weygand Rishi Sharma Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring Network Space Weather space weather geomagnetically induced currents GIC measurements statistical analysis mid‐latitude positive bay power grid |
| title | Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring Network |
| title_full | Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring Network |
| title_fullStr | Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring Network |
| title_full_unstemmed | Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring Network |
| title_short | Occurrence of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents Within the EPRI SUNBURST Monitoring Network |
| title_sort | occurrence of large geomagnetically induced currents within the epri sunburst monitoring network |
| topic | space weather geomagnetically induced currents GIC measurements statistical analysis mid‐latitude positive bay power grid |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023SW003532 |
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