Revealing Novel Connections Between Space Weather and the Power Grid:
Network Analysis of Ground-Based Magnetometer and Geomagnetically
Induced Currents (GIC) Measurements
Abstract
The growing depth and breadth of available data that span the
solar-terrestrial environment place us at a tipping point – the
potential of these data is immense but realizing that potential requires
a new representation. A new network-based approach to represent data
collected by power utilities along with information from the
solar-terrestrial connection is used. The progress is generated as part
of a new project within the National Science Foundation Convergence
Accelerator program: “The Convergence Hub for the Exploration of Space
Science (CHESS).” Results are shared from current data provided through
the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) SUNBURST project linked to
magnetometer data from the Super Magnetometer Initiative. These data are
transformed into a network with GIC measurements and magnetometers as
the nodes in order to answer a long-standing question: “How much more
likely are deviations from the average current when there is active
space weather”? To answer this question, periods of active space
weather are identified in the magnetometer data, and these are compared
to times of DC transients in the GIC data. The probability of a these
transients is found to be , on average, 1.6 times higher during periods
of active space weather than during quiet times. The most indicative
magnetometers of these DC transients are often not the closest to where
the GICs are measured.