3 research outputs found
Signs of geoeffective space weather events in cosmic rays during the first half of the solar cycle 24
Solar originating events are continually evident in galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux registered at the ground by
neutron monitors. We analyze time intervals of sporadic Forbush decreases (Fd) observed by neutron monitors
(NM) during the first half of solar cycle 24. We consider NMs data, as well as, solar, heliospheric and geoma -
gnetic activity parameters, around those periods, using different mathematical tools. Subsequently, an impact
of space weather phenomena on energy infrastructure is well known, in the further step we consider logs from
one of the Polish transmission lines operators during the time intervals of Fds. Based on the data from the Ins-
titute of Meteorology and Water Management-Polish National Research Institute we exclude from the analysis
the weather-related failures. We found that the increase in the superposed averaged number of failures appears
around Forbush decreases
Evaluating the relationship between strong geomagnetic storms and electric grid failures in Poland using the geoelectric field as a GIC proxy
We study intense geomagnetic storms (Dst < −100nT) during the first half of the solar cycle 24. This type of storm appeared only a few times, mostly associated with southwardly directed heliospheric magnetic field Bz. Using various methods such as self-organizing maps, statistical and superposed epoch analysis, we show that during and right after intense geomagnetic storms, there is growth in the number of transmission line failures. We also examine the temporal changes in the number of failures during 2010-2014 and find that the growing linear tendency of electrical grid failure occurrence is possibly connected with solar activity. We compare these results with the geoelectric field calculated for the region of Poland using a 1-D layered conductivity Earth model