Abstract
Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) are driven by the geoelectric
field induced by fluctuations of Earth’s magnetic field. Drivers of
intense GICs are often associated with large impulsive events such as
coronal mass ejections. To a lesser extent fluctuations from regular
oscillations of the geomagnetic field, or geomagnetic pulsations, have
also been identified as possible drivers of GICs. In this work we show
that these low-frequency pulsations are directly observed in measured
GIC data from power networks. Due to the low-pass nature of GICs, Pc5
and lower frequency pulsations drive significant GICs for an extended
duration at mid-latitudes. Longer period Ps6-type disturbances
apparently not typical of mid-latitudes are seen with GIC amplitudes
comparable to the peak GIC at storm sudden commencement. The quasi-ac
nature of the sustained pulsation driving affects the power system
response and cannot be properly modelled using only dc models. A further
consideration is that the often used dB/dt GIC proxy is biased to the
sampling rate of the geomagnetic field measurements used. The dB/dt
metric does not adequately characterise GIC activity at frequencies in
the low ULF range and a frequency weighted proxy akin to geoelectric
field should be used instead.