. | . |
NASA Scientist Receives Patent for Innovative Technique for Measuring Space Weather Phenomena by Lori Keesey for GSFC News Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 15, 2019
A NASA expert in space-weather phenomena has won a patent for an idea that, if fully implemented, would create the world's largest scientific instrument for detecting a condition that has caused power outages in the past. Antti Pulkkinen, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and his team have started implementing the idea. They've installed scientific stations equipped with commercial fluxgate magnetometers and compact command-and-control computers beneath high-voltage power transmission lines operated by Dominion Virginia Power and American Electric Power in Ohio. The team is getting ready to install additional stations - equipped with second-generation equipment - beneath lines operated by the Southern Company in Alabama. All participating stations include reference stations positioned up to two miles from the power lines. The project represents the first time NASA has used high-voltage power lines as a tool to map large-scale geomagnetically induced currents, or GICs, caused by severe space weather. During solar storms, violent changes occur in near-space, which then are sensed by the transmission lines, essentially making them antennae.
"Win-Win" Situation The project gives power companies data about GICs, while offering scientists an opportunity to "reverse engineer" the data to learn more about what happens in Earth's upper atmosphere when severe space weather is taking place. GICs typically occur one-to-three days after the Sun unleashes a coronal mass ejection, a gigantic bubble of charged particles that can carry up to 10 billion tons of matter. These bubbles accelerate to several million miles per hour as they race across space. If a blob of material slams into Earth's near-space atmosphere, the impact causes Earth's magnetosphere - and electric currents within it - to fluctuate. These variations induce electric currents that can flow through any large-scale conductive structure, including power lines, oil and gas pipelines, undersea communications cables, telephone networks, and railways. An extreme example of a GIC was the great magnetic storm of March 1989. Rapid variations in the geomagnetic field led to intensely induced electric fields at Earth's surface, which caused currents to flow through conducting structures - in this case, the Canadian Hydro-Quebec power grid. The excess current collapsed the transmission systems, causing the loss of electric power to more than six million people.
Regulatory Requirements "Solar storms propagate across various regions of the geospace," said Todd Bonalsky, a Goddard instrument engineer and co-investigator. "If an event were to hit Oregon, for example, you could watch the storm propagating across the country through these measurements. With the data, you can predict which states are likely to be most affected." Pulkkinen wants to install stations beneath the lines of as many power companies as he can recruit. "With the industry and science need for stations, this project offers a nice mutual benefit," Pulkkinen said. "In essence, we're tapping into a very large antenna to learn more about GICs and associated space physical phenomena." For more Goddard technology news please visit here
Scientists discover what powers celestial phenomenon STEVE Washington DC (SPX) Apr 26, 2019 The celestial phenomenon known as STEVE is likely caused by a combination of heating of charged particles in the atmosphere and energetic electrons like those that power the aurora, according to new research. In a new study, scientists found STEVE's source region in space and identified two mechanisms that cause it. Last year, the obscure atmospheric lights became an internet sensation. Typical auroras, the northern and southern lights, are usually seen as swirling green ribbons spreading across t ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |