Very low frequency radio, a well-proven tool for solar-terrestrial studies, proves to be adept at detecting the stresses that space weather imposes on the transformers at the heart of power grids.
power grids
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Exploring How Space Weather Can Damage Power Grids
A new model of geomagnetically induced currents revisits how space weather damaged a New Zealand grid transformer in 2001, and shows how much worse it could be in a space weather superstorm.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ground Surveys Reveal Space Weather Risk to Spain’s Power Grid
A survey of bedrock conductivity across Spain improves predictions of how vulnerable the nation’s power grid is to solar storms.
Posted inScience Updates
International Effort Tackles Landslide Hazards to Keep the Peace
Earth scientists work with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to help keep a border-straddling hydroelectric power plant on the Black Sea coast safe from landslides.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mapping Geoelectric Hazards Across the United States
Variations in Earth’s magnetic field can induce electric fields in the ground, driving damaging currents through our power grids.
Posted inEditors' Vox
GICs: The Bane of Technology-Dependent Societies
Geomagnetically Induced Currents can cause voltage swings, transformer heating, and reactive power loss in high-voltage power transmission systems.
Posted inFeatures
Magnetic Storms and Induction Hazards
Electric fields induced in the Earth's lithosphere during magnetic storms can interfere with the operation of electric power grids. Scientists are working to understand this multifaceted hazard.