Estimation of Time Derivative of Horizontal Geomagnetic Component for GIC Assesment in Malaysia during Quiet Period

Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary observation on the possible Geomagnetic Induced Current (GIC) activities at Malaysia region during the quiet period of solar cycle 24 (year 2017). In fact, the damage of power system operation might lead to the malfunction of the transformer, which is the main component of the power system. Previously, the cause of the damage has been identified in the long-term investigation, where it drives from the space weather effect so-called (GIC). In this work, the quiet period has been selected by respecting the value of K-Planetary index (Kp) must be less than 3 extracted from OMNIWeb data source. The main objective of the current work is to investigate the behavior of the GIC amplitude at Malaysia region as well as to identify the parameter (ionospheric current and magnetospheric current) that contribute significantly towards the GIC activity at Malaysia region. The type of analysis was carried out using the data of geomagnetic field by extracting the time derivative of the horizontal component (dH/dt) as the indicator for GIC activity. The geomagnetic data was obtained from the MAGDAS observatories at Langkawi (LKW), Perak (PER), and Johor (JOH) stations. Subsequently, the dH/dt value is less than 30 nT/min represent no GIC activity occurred during that particular date for all three stations. However, the results revealed that the ionospheric current, DP2 corresponds well to the dH/dt amplitude. Plus, the latitudinal correlation gave the best representation of the control factor of GIC activity.