Improving the modeling of geomagnetically induced currents in Spain

Vulnerability assessments of the risk posed by geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) to power transmission grids benefit from accurate knowledge of the geomagnetic field variations at each node of the grid, the Earth's geoelectrical structures beneath them, and the topology and relative resistances of the grid elements in the precise instant of a storm. The results of previous analyses on the threat posed by GICs to the Spanish 400 kV grid are improved in this study by resorting to different strategies to progress in the three aspects identified above. First, although at midlatitude regions the source fields are rather uniform, we have investigated the effect of their spatial changes by interpolating the field from the records of several close observatories with different techniques. Second, we have performed a magnetotelluric (MT) sounding in the vicinity of one of the transformers where GICs are measured to determine the geoelectrical structure of the Earth, and we have identified the importance of estimating the MT impedance tensor when predicting GIC, especially where the effect of lateral heterogeneities is important. Finally, a sensitivity analysis to network changes has allowed us to assess the reliability of both the information about the network topology and resistances, and the assumptions made when all the details or the network status are not available. In our case, the most essential issue to improve the coincidence between model predictions and actual observations came from the use of realistic geoelectric information involving local MT measurements

New geoelectrical characterization of a continental collision zone in the Central - Eastern Pyrenees: Constraints from 3-D joint inversion of electromagnetic data

Continent-continent collisions are responsible for the formation of large mountain ranges like the Himalayas and the Alps and play a primary role in the development of the continents. The continental collision between the Iberian and European plates during the Alpine Orogeny resulted in the formation of the Pyrenees. In this study new electromagnetic data from the Eastern Pyrenees were complemented with older data from the Central Pyrenees, constraining the physical and geological processes at the eastern end of the Pyrenean mountain range. The electrical resistivity distribution beneath the Central-Eastern Pyrenees was characterized by means of three-dimensional (3-D) joint inversion of three electromagnetic datasets: (1) the MT impedance tensor (Z), (2) the geomagnetic transfer function (T), and (3) the inter-station horizontal magnetic transfer function (H). The main finding was the non-continuity to the east of the major conductive anomaly observed previously beneath the Central and West-Central Pyrenees related to partial melting of the Iberian subducted lower crust. Lower amounts of water (related to the presence of muscovite and biotite) in the subducted lower crust beneath the Eastern Pyrenees were suggested to explain the lack of partial melting in this part of the mountain range. The electrical resistivity model also revealed higher electrical resistivity values for the lithospheric mantle beneath the Eastern Pyrenees than beneath the Central Pyrenees, thus supporting the hypothesis of an heterogeneous Iberian plate inherited from the Variscan Orogeny. A less clear signature was the lateral variation along the strike direction of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary beneath the Eastern Pyrenees (relatively flat, between 110 km and 140 km depth) and the Central Pyrenees (north dipping, between 80 km and 120 km depth beneath the Iberian Plate and between 110 km and 160 km depth beneath the European plate), supporting the hypothesis of a missing lithospheric root beneath the Eastern Pyrenees

Expected geomagnetically induced currents in the Spanish islands power transmission grids.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the geomagnetically induced current (GIC) hazard in the power networks of the Canary and Balearic archipelagos. This is done in order to strictly complete the detailed assessment at national level of the power transmission system of mainland Spain, including the 400 and 220 kV levels. We have constructed models for the grids in each of the individual systems and used resistivity models of the lithosphere for each group of islands, from which we have calculated the surface impedances. The respective models of electrical admittances of the grids have been combined with the geoelectric field derived from the convolution of the recorded (or expected in an extreme scenario) geomagnetic storms and the impedances calculated from the geoelectrical models to derive the expected GICs in the power lines, substations, and transformers. The low geomagnetic latitude of the Canary Islands combined with the small size of their power networks, makes them one of the least likely electrified locations to record significant GICs, with less than 3 A for the 100-year return period. Even the 13 A that could be reached for the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval at the 500-year return period does not seem likely to have a significant impact. The Balearic Islands, being at higher latitude and with a system length of approximately 300 km, including alternating current power lines connecting the Islands, shows GIC signals of moderate amplitude with up to 40 A for the 100-year return period.</p

A detailed model of the Irish High Voltage Power Network for simulating GICs

Constructing a power network model for geomagnetically induced current (GIC) calculations requires information on the DC resistances of elements within a network. This information is often not known, and power network models are simplified as a result, with assumptions used for network element resistances. Ireland's relatively small, isolated network presents an opportunity to model a complete power network in detail, using as much real‐world information as possible. A complete model of the Irish 400, 275, 220, and 110 kV network was made for GIC calculations, with detailed information on the number, type, and DC resistances of transformers. The measured grounding resistances at a number of substations were also included in the model, which represents a considerable improvement on previous models of the Irish power network for GIC calculations. Sensitivity tests were performed to show how calculated GIC amplitudes are affected by different aspects of the model. These tests investigated: (1) How the orientation of a uniform electric field affects GICs. (2) The effect of including/omitting lower voltage elements of the power network. (3) How the substation grounding resistances assumptions affected GIC values. It was found that changing the grounding resistance value had a considerable effect on calculated GICs at some substations and no discernible effect at others. Finally, five recent geomagnetic storm events were simulated in the network. It was found that heavy rainfall prior to the 26–28 August 2015 geomagnetic storm event may have had a measurable impact on measured GIC amplitudes at a 400/220 kV transformer ground

Innovation of the Magnetotelluric method and its application to the characterization of the Pyrenean lithosphere

[cat] Aquesta tesi es composa de tres articles relacionats amb el mètode Magnetotelluric (MT) i la seva aplicació a la caracterització d’estructures geoelèctriques de la litosfera. La tesi comença amb una introducció on es presenten les motivacions d’aquesta i els objectius plantejats, així com el context geològic dels Pirineus, els estudis previs que s’han realitzat i les dades fetes servir pel desenvolupament de la tesis. La introducció conté també una descripció del mètode MT amb l’objectiu d’ajudar a entendre l’anàlisi que es desenvolupa en els articles. Tot seguit s’exposen els tres articles, es discuteixen els resultats obtinguts i s’exposen les conclusions a les que s’ha arribat. El primer article mostra les estructures geoelèctriques sota el Pirineu Central. L’objectiu d’aquest estudi ha estat millorar els resultats de Ledo (1996) i Pous et al. (1995a), aplicant els progressos que hi ha hagut en el camp de la MT en els darrers quinze anys. Els nous resultats han permès caracteritzar millor la zona de fusió parcial associada amb la subducció de l’escorça Ibèrica Inferior (IBSLC) i el límit litosfera astenosfera (LAB). De forma complementaria, s’ha dut a terme un anàlisi de les propietats de l’escorça inferior que ha permès aportar més arguments a favor de la hipòtesis de la fusió parcial. En el segon article el mètode MT s’ha fet servir per caracteritzar les estructures geoelèctriques sota el Pirineu Occidental-Central en un nou perfil de MT. En aquest estudi també s’han observat estructures geoelèctriques associades amb la fusió parcial de la IBSLC i amb el LAB. Sota la conca de l’Ebre s’ha observat per primer cop una anomalia geoelèctrica que s’ha associat amb la presència d’un límit Hercinià. Els resultats han estat comparats amb els del Pirineu Central per tal de caracteritzar l’evolució de les principals estructures geoelèctriques al llarg de la serralada. En el tercer article s’ha proposat un nou mètode per processar dades MT. Aquest mètode utilitza els camps magnètics horitzontals enregistrats en una estació veïna per processar les dades de la zona d’estudi únicament a partir de relacions tensorials entre estacions. Els experiments duts a terme corroboren la validesa del mètode.[eng] This thesis is a compendium of three papers related to the magnetotelluric (MT) method and its application to the characterization of lithospheric-scale geoelectrical structures. The thesis begins with an Introduction where the motivation and the aims are presented as well as the geological context of the Pyrenees, the previous geophysical studies and the used data set. The Introduction also contains a description of the MT method with basic concepts useful to understand the MT analysis developed in the three papers. Then the three papers, which are the main part of the thesis, are exposed. After the papers, there is a Discussion where the results are commented and compared, extending some of the ideas proposed in the articles and including a new geoelectrical crustal model of the Western Pyrenees. Then there are the Conclusions and proposals of future works related to the MT sites acquired in the Pyrenees and the proposed method for processing MT data. At the end of the thesis there are the references of the cited works and an annex containing a copy of the two published papers and a copy of the submitted manuscript of the third paper. The first published paper determines the geoelectrical structures below the Central Pyrenees using new BBMT and LMT data acquired close to the ECORS-Pyrenees deep seismic profile. The aim of this study has been to improve the results obtained by Ledo (1996) and Pous et al. (1995a), taking advantage of the progress occurred in the last fifteen years associated with the MT method and the acquisition of MT data. The most important improvements that have been achieved are the better definition of the top of the electrical resistivity structure associated with the Iberian subducted lower crust (IBSLC) and the determination of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) below the Iberian and the European plates close to the collision zone. Complementary, an analysis of the geological properties of the lower-crust and the dehydration point of the muscovite and biotite rocks provides more arguments in favour of the hypothesis of partial melting to explain the geophysical observations associated with the IBSLC. In the second paper the MT method has been applied to characterize the geoelectrical structures below the West-Central Pyrenees in a new MT profile across the Pyrenean mountain range. This new MT profile is 130 km long and is composed by twenty BBMT sites acquired in 2010, seven of them also with LMT data. Results have been compared with the ones obtained in the Central Pyrenees characterizing the main geoelectrical variations between the two MT profiles. An analysis of the thermal re-equilibration of the IBSLC has been developed completing the analysis of the previous paper about the presence or absence of partial melting in the IBSLC. This analysis corroborates partial melting as the best explanation for the low electrical resistivity values of the IBSLC. The LAB below the West-Central Pyrenees has been determined not only below the Iberian and the European plates, as in the Central Pyrenees, but also below the collision zone. Additionally, an unexpected geoelectrical structure completely buried below the Ebro basin has been associated with a Variscan boundary. In the third paper a new method is proposed for processing MT data. The proposed method uses the horizontal magnetic fields recorded at a neighbouring site to process the MT data of a local site from inter-station tensor relationships. Results obtained in the experiments validate the method. A parameter has been defined in order to determine, in each specific study for each used period, if the proposed method can be applied

Innovation of the Magnetotelluric method and its application to the characterization of the Pyrenean lithosphere

This thesis is a compendium of three papers related to the magnetotelluric (MT) method and its application to the characterization of lithospheric-scale geoelectrical structures. The thesis begins with an Introduction where the motivation and the aims are presented as well as the geological context of the Pyrenees, the previous geophysical studies and the used data set. The Introduction also contains a description of the MT method with basic concepts useful to understand the MT analysis developed in the three papers. Then the three papers, which are the main part of the thesis, are exposed. After the papers, there is a Discussion where the results are commented and compared, extending some of the ideas proposed in the articles and including a new geoelectrical crustal model of the Western Pyrenees. Then there are the Conclusions and proposals of future works related to the MT sites acquired in the Pyrenees and the proposed method for processing MT data. At the end of the thesis there are the references of the cited works and an annex containing a copy of the two published papers and a copy of the submitted manuscript of the third paper. The first published paper determines the geoelectrical structures below the Central Pyrenees using new BBMT and LMT data acquired close to the ECORS-Pyrenees deep seismic profile. The aim of this study has been to improve the results obtained by Ledo (1996) and Pous et al. (1995a), taking advantage of the progress occurred in the last fifteen years associated with the MT method and the acquisition of MT data. The most important improvements that have been achieved are the better definition of the top of the electrical resistivity structure associated with the Iberian subducted lower crust (IBSLC) and the determination of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) below the Iberian and the European plates close to the collision zone. Complementary, an analysis of the geological properties of the lower-crust and the dehydration point of the muscovite and biotite rocks provides more arguments in favour of the hypothesis of partial melting to explain the geophysical observations associated with the IBSLC. In the second paper the MT method has been applied to characterize the geoelectrical structures below the West-Central Pyrenees in a new MT profile across the Pyrenean mountain range. This new MT profile is 130 km long and is composed by twenty BBMT sites acquired in 2010, seven of them also with LMT data. Results have been compared with the ones obtained in the Central Pyrenees characterizing the main geoelectrical variations between the two MT profiles. An analysis of the thermal re-equilibration of the IBSLC has been developed completing the analysis of the previous paper about the presence or absence of partial melting in the IBSLC. This analysis corroborates partial melting as the best explanation for the low electrical resistivity values of the IBSLC. The LAB below the West-Central Pyrenees has been determined not only below the Iberian and the European plates, as in the Central Pyrenees, but also below the collision zone. Additionally, an unexpected geoelectrical structure completely buried below the Ebro basin has been associated with a Variscan boundary. In the third paper a new method is proposed for processing MT data. The proposed method uses the horizontal magnetic fields recorded at a neighbouring site to process the MT data of a local site from inter-station tensor relationships. Results obtained in the experiments validate the method. A parameter has been defined in order to determine, in each specific study for each used period, if the proposed method can be applied.Aquesta tesi es composa de tres articles relacionats amb el mètode Magnetotelluric (MT) i la seva aplicació a la caracterització d’estructures geoelèctriques de la litosfera. La tesi comença amb una introducció on es presenten les motivacions d’aquesta i els objectius plantejats, així com el context geològic dels Pirineus, els estudis previs que s’han realitzat i les dades fetes servir pel desenvolupament de la tesis. La introducció conté també una descripció del mètode MT amb l’objectiu d’ajudar a entendre l’anàlisi que es desenvolupa en els articles. Tot seguit s’exposen els tres articles, es discuteixen els resultats obtinguts i s’exposen les conclusions a les que s’ha arribat. El primer article mostra les estructures geoelèctriques sota el Pirineu Central. L’objectiu d’aquest estudi ha estat millorar els resultats de Ledo (1996) i Pous et al. (1995a), aplicant els progressos que hi ha hagut en el camp de la MT en els darrers quinze anys. Els nous resultats han permès caracteritzar millor la zona de fusió parcial associada amb la subducció de l’escorça Ibèrica Inferior (IBSLC) i el límit litosfera astenosfera (LAB). De forma complementaria, s’ha dut a terme un anàlisi de les propietats de l’escorça inferior que ha permès aportar més arguments a favor de la hipòtesis de la fusió parcial. En el segon article el mètode MT s’ha fet servir per caracteritzar les estructures geoelèctriques sota el Pirineu Occidental-Central en un nou perfil de MT. En aquest estudi també s’han observat estructures geoelèctriques associades amb la fusió parcial de la IBSLC i amb el LAB. Sota la conca de l’Ebre s’ha observat per primer cop una anomalia geoelèctrica que s’ha associat amb la presència d’un límit Hercinià. Els resultats han estat comparats amb els del Pirineu Central per tal de caracteritzar l’evolució de les principals estructures geoelèctriques al llarg de la serralada. En el tercer article s’ha proposat un nou mètode per processar dades MT. Aquest mètode utilitza els camps magnètics horitzontals enregistrats en una estació veïna per processar les dades de la zona d’estudi únicament a partir de relacions tensorials entre estacions. Els experiments duts a terme corroboren la validesa del mètode

Nowcasting Geoelectric Fields in Ireland using Magnetotelluric Transfer Functions.

Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) driven by geoelectric fields pose a hazard to ground-based infrastructure, such as power grids and pipelines. Here, a new method is presented for modelling geoelectric fields in near real time, with the aim of providing valuable information to help mitigate the impact of GIC. The method uses magnetic field measurements from the Magnetometer Network of Ireland (MagIE; www.magie.ie), interpolates the geomagnetic field variations between magnetometers using spherical elementary current systems (SECS), and estimates the local electric field using a high density (< 40 km) network of magnetotelluric transfer functions (MT-TF) encompassing the island. The model was optimised to work in near real time, with a correction curve applied to the geoelectric field time series. This approach was successfully validated with measured electric fields at four sites for a number of geomagnetic storms, providing accurate electric fields up to a 1-minute delay from real time, with high coherence (0.70 – 0.85) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; 3.2 – 6.5) relative to measured electric field validation time series. This was comparable to a standard non real-time geoelectric field model (coherence = 0.80 – 0.89 and SNR = 4.0 – 7.0). The impact of galvanic distortion on the model was also briefly evaluated, with a galvanic distortion correction leading to a more homogeneous representation of the direction of the electric field, at a regional scale