Down to Earth with nuclear electromagnetic pulse: Realistic surface impedance affects mapping of the E3 geoelectric hazard
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Abstract
An analysis is made of Earth-surface geoelectric fields and voltages on electricity transmission power-grids induced by a late-phase E3 nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP). A hypothetical scenario is considered of an explosion of several hundred kilotons set several hundred kilometers above the eastern-midcontinental United States. Ground-level E3 geoelectric fields are estimated by convolving a standard parameterization of E3 geomagnetic field variation with magnetotelluric Earth-surface impedance tensors derived from wideband measurements acquired across the study region during a recent survey. These impedance tensors are a function of subsurface three-dimensional electrical conductivity structure. Results, presented as a movie-map, demonstrate that localized differences in surface impedance strongly distort the amplitude, polarization, and variational phase of induced E3 geoelectric fields. Locations with a high degree of E3 geoelectric polarization tend to have high geoelectric amplitude. Uniform half-space models and one-dimensional, depth-dependent models of Earth-surface impedance, such as those widely used in government and industry reports informing power-grid vulnerability assessment projects, do not provide accurate estimates of the E3 geoelectric hazard in complex geological settings. In particular, for the Eastern-Midcontinent, half-space models can lead to (order-one) overestimates/underestimates of EMP-induced geovoltages on parts of the power grid by as much as 1,000 volts (a range of 2,000 volts)—comparable to the amplitudes of the geovoltages themselves.
Publication type | Article |
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Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Title | Down to Earth with nuclear electromagnetic pulse: Realistic surface impedance affects mapping of the E3 geoelectric hazard |
Series title | Earth and Space Sciences |
DOI | 10.1029/2021EA001792 |
Volume | 8 |
Issue | 8 |
Year Published | 2021 |
Language | English |
Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
Contributing office(s) | Geologic Hazards Science Center |
Description | e2021EA001792, 25 p. |
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