Issue |
J. Space Weather Space Clim.
Volume 5, 2015
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A24 | |
Number of page(s) | 8 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/swsc/2015022 | |
Published online | 17 July 2015 |
Research Article
Regional estimation of geomagnetically induced currents based on the local magnetic or electric field
1
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Erik Palménin aukio 1, 00560
Helsinki, Finland
2
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Scheelevägen 17, 22370
Lund, Sweden
* Corresponding author: ari.viljanen@fmi.fi
Received:
8
April
2015
Accepted:
15
June
2015
Previous studies have demonstrated a close relationship between the time derivative of the horizontal geomagnetic field vector (dH/dt) and geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) at a nearby location in a power grid. Similarly, a high correlation exists between GIC and the local horizontal geoelectric field (E), typically modelled from a measured magnetic field.
Considering GIC forecasting, it is not feasible to assume that detailed prediction of time series will be possible. Instead, other measures summarising the activity level over a given period are preferable. In this paper, we consider the 30-min maximum of dH/dt or E as a local activity indicator (|dH/dt|30 or |E|30). Concerning GIC, we use the sum of currents through the neutral leads at substations and apply its 30-min maximum as a regional activity measure (GIC30).
We show that |dH/dt|30 at a single point yields a proxy for GIC activity in a larger region. A practical consequence is that if |dH/dt|30 can be predicted at some point then it is also possible to assess the expected GIC level in the surrounding area. As is also demonstrated, |E|30 and GIC30 depend linearly on |dH/dt|30, so there is no saturation with increasing geomagnetic activity contrary to often used activity indices.
Key words: Geomagnetically induced currents
© A. Viljanen et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2015
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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