Detection of distribution circuit wildfire ignition mechanisms using substation-only sensors and data analytics with Dr. Russell, Carl Benner, and Dr. Wischkaemper

Recent emphasis on wildfire mitigation has generated interest in many forms of distributed sensing to detect wildfire ignition mechanisms. These include PMUs, RF sensors, and line current sensors as well as sensors that detect light, vibration, weather, etc. It is postulated that distributed sensing provides data that allows for more sophisticated detection and location as compared to systems that only use substation current and potential transformers. This presentation explores the capabilities of substation only monitoring architectures and provides a benchmark for use in cost/benefit comparisons to distributed sensing architectures. Detection examples of ignition mechanisms on operating utility circuits are presented.