The effects of the March 13, 1989, geomagnetic storm, which revealed significant vulnerabilities of electric power systems to this natural widespread phenomenon, are described. This vulnerability appears to be increasing during the 1990s. The economic consequences to the nation of this vulnerability are significant, on the order of several billion dollars for each major outage. It is suggested that the US government can play an important role in reducing the vulnerability of electric power systems to solar storms by installing an early warning satellite and cooperating with industry in a comprehensive research program. The Department of Energy can fill gaps in the research and provide for continuity of research during periods of reduced solar activity when industrial research tends to wane. >

Economic consequences of geomagnetic storms (a summary)

Geomagnetically induced currents through the transformer windings produce biases of transformers, increase transformer reactive power losses, and lead to a significant lack of reactive power support in the power system. As a result, the geomagnetically induced currents cause voltage fluctuations and affect the safe and stable operation of the power network. This study focuses on the problem of multi-objective reactive power optimization strategy to mitigate the negative effects of geomagnetically induced current on the power network. Using the stochastic response surface method, this article establishes a model of the probabilistic power flow calculation, combines a particle swarm optimization algorithm based on the niche chaotic mutation, and sets up a multi-objective reactive power optimization model. The introducing of chaos mutation avoids the result falling into a local optimal solution and improves the global search ability. The geomagnetically induced current–benchmark simulation verified the accuracy and effectiveness of the model and algorithm, and proved that the strategy can effectively reduce the voltage deviation caused by the geomagnetically induced current.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1687814017701697

A multi-objective reactive power optimization strategy for mitigating voltage fluctuation in power network caused by geomagnetic storm

The present work aims to investigate Solar Storming effects on the determination of geodetic coordinates. Preliminary results of an analysis of satellite and ground – based measurements during extremely strong geomagnetic storm on 11th September 2005 are presented. A similar situation was also observed on 30th October 2003 and 8th November 2004. The disturbance of the Sun, solar wind, and magnetosphere during these periods was weaker than during the similar period in 2003 with respect to a number of parameters. Nevertheless, the presented data indicate that the declining phase of solar cycle 23 is one of the most active intervals over the entire period of comprehensive studies of the solar‐terrestrial coupling precisely because of the events that occurred in the autumn of 2003 and 2004. Satellite orbit errors and their consequences on the accuracy of ground positioning will also be investigated. It is expected that the results of this research will provide useful conclusions, which will be helpfu...

An initial analysis of the solar storming effects on the determination of coordinates using GNSS

The need to predict accurately the occurrence of geomagnetic disturbances, which have caused blackouts and damaged power system equipment, is discussed. It is difficult for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Air Force Air Weather Service to jointly operate the Space Environment Services Center (SESC), the civil agency responsible for monitoring solar disturbances. The SESC observes the Sun and several geophysical parameters, including the Earth's magnetic field using both ground-based and space-based sensors. This effort is hampered by incomplete information, particularly the lack of information on the fluctuations of the solar wind. The effects of solar storms on man-made systems including radio communication and radar, spacecraft electronics, satellites, pipelines, and geophysical surveys as well as power systems, are described. The solar activity that causes the disturbances is examined. A proposed satellite to monitor the solar wind and improve forecasts is discussed, and the importance of a broad base of user support is stressed. >

B.L. Damsk

Papers

Solar wind monitor satellite