Geomagnetically Induced Currents over Kazakhstan during Large Geomagnetic Storms

Abstract Extreme solar events, such as flares accompanied by the ejection of a powerful magnetic cloud, cause perturbation of the Earth's magnetic field and form fluctuating currents in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. One of the negative consequences of extreme solar phenomena for technological systems is the appearance of geomagnetically induced currents in conducting ground systems, power transmission lines and pipelines. Many countries of the world already have reliable ways to predict the appearance of geomagnetic-induced currents in the electric power system. Kazakhstan, which has extensive power transmission lines and pipelines, needs its own strategy to predict and mitigate the effects of geomagnetic-induced currents. This paper shows the formation of significant geomagnetically induced currents in the region of Kazakhstan during extreme helio-geoeffective events. The first results of modeling the geoelectric field for this region are presented. The description of measurements of telluric current in urban conditions in Almaty is given [43.25°N; 76.92°E].