This research has been carried under the Geological Survey Ireland 2017 Short Call. This call provided funding for researchers in academia or industry on the island of Ireland for projects of less than 12 months duration and less than €25,000.
Please note that the final report has been redacted to remove staff, financial and sensitive information. Some file sizes have been reduced to allow easier uploading/downloading, higher quality files are available on request. Supplemental information is also available on request in most cases. Please contact research[AT]gsi.ie
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and not of Geological Survey Ireland or the Department of Climate Action, Communications and Environment.
Lead Applicant: Dr Joan Campanya
Host: Trinity College Dublin
Project Title: A new digital database of Ireland's electromagnetic fields to mitigate against space weather
Project Description: As society becomes increasingly dependent on renewable energy and electricity, reliability of electricity supply and electric infrastructure is key to national development. One challenge associated with becoming more dependent on electricity is the potentially catastrophic effects of Space Weather, or solar storms, which can severely damage electric infrastructure. There is a pressing need to accurately model the electromagnetic (EM) fields caused by large solar storms which interact with the Earth's subsurface geology and form geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) that cause damage to ground-based infrastructures. We propose to collect new long-period EM data to assist in a better understanding and modelling of Ireland's EM fields.
We will create a digital database containing key information for modelling and monitoring EM fields caused by solar storms, such as:
- EM time series;
- Tensor relationships between the electric and magnetic fields;
- and a three-dimensional electrical resistivity model of Ireland's lithosphere.
The database will be made publically available in EPOS and GSI, and will complement current research projects in TCD, mitigating against effects of solar storms in the Irish power network, and DIAS, understanding geological and physical processes of Ireland's lithosphere.
Report