Geomagnetic Disturbance Characterization in the Hydro Québec Power Grid using AUTUMN and AUTUMNX

太阳使地球受到太阳风的冲击，产生暴风雨的条件， 极光除了光之外，这些太空风暴还产生磁场变化，电力系统 优秀的“天线”，产生电流。电网是精细平衡的，这些额外的电流影响了它的 效率，也可能造成损害。魁北克水电公司的电网很容易受到这些影响，部分原因是 在该省的北方地区，极光很常见，部分原因是由于 加拿大地盾的下伏岩石。其输电线路的长度也使其更加 像“极光天线”一样有效地拾取不期望的效果。近日，阿萨巴斯卡大学的AUTUMNX 在魁北克省的10个地方建立了一个高精度的磁场测量网络。变化 磁场相当于电场的应用，并且是额外的主要原因。 电网中的“地磁感应”电流。因此，AUTUMNX是一个理想的工具， 了解魁北克水电电网如何受到伴随极光和其他空间的电流的影响 地球附近的现象。作为对照案例，AUTUMN阵列在加拿大西部已经存在了超过 十年来，提供了类似仪器的磁场数据，但在一个非常不同的岩石类型。我们将 因此，能够描述两个不同地区的磁效应，并在魁北克看到直接影响 在电网中测量的是。对电网中测量到的干扰原因的更深入了解 将允许操作程序的改进，并提高效率和可靠性的主要 北美东北部的电力生产商。

The Sun subjects the Earth to buffeting from the solar wind, producing stormy conditions that are signaled by auroras. In addition to light, these space storms produce magnetic changes for which electric power systems are excellent "antennas", generating currents. The power grid is finely balanced, and these extra currents affect its efficiency and can also cause damage. The Hydro Québec power grid is vulnerable to these effects due in part to being in the northern parts of the province where auroras are common, and in part due to the nature of the underlying rock of the Canadian Shield. The great length of its power transmission lines also makes it more efficient as an "aurora antenna" picking up undesired effects. Recently, Athabasca University's AUTUMNX network was put in place to measure the magnetic field at ten places in Québec with high precision. Changes in the magnetic field are equivalent to application of an electric field, and are a major cause of the extra "geomagnetically induced" currents in the power grid. AUTUMNX is thus an ideal tool with which to understand how the Hydro Québec grid is affected by the currents accompanying auroras and other space phenomena near Earth. As a control case, the AUTUMN array, which has existed in Western Canada for over ten years, provides magnetic field data from similar instruments but over a very different rock type. We will thus be able to characterize magnetic effects in two differing regions, and in Québec see what the direct effects measured in the power grid are. This greater understanding of causes of the disturbances measured in the grid will permit improvements in operating procedures, and improve the efficiency and reliability of the major power producer of northeastern North America.