On 19-20 of August, the Solar Tsunamis team had their annual meeting with Firstgas in New Plymouth. Malcolm Ingham and Tim Divett from Victoria University of Wellington have been working closely with Firstgas to model the response of gas pipeline network electrical systems to Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs) caused by space weather, and they shared how their latest simulations compared to recorded data from past events. They also discussed the impact that the May 2024 “Gannon” storm had on the gas pipeline network, based on their analysis of observations provided by Firstgas from a wide range of locations.
You can read more about the work being done by VUW in collaboration with Firstgas in this NZ Herald article about the May 2024 Geomagnetic Storm.
Above: The Firstgas pipeline network map from their website
Below: A slide showing the method used by VUW to model GICs in the gas pipeline network, courtesy of Tim Divett
