Title: Evidence for SOC in Electric Power System Blackouts
Abstract: We analyze a 15-year time series of North American electric power system blackouts for evidence of self-organized criticality. Scaled window variance and R/S analysis of the time series shows moderate long time correlations. The probability distribution functions of various measures of blackout size have a power tail. Moreover, the same analysis applied to a time series from a sandpile model known to be self-organized critical gives results of the same form. Thus, the blackout data is consistent with self-organized criticality. Self-organized criticality, if fully confirmed in power systems, would suggest new complex systems approaches to understanding and possibly controlling blackouts.
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-01-03
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 3
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