Estimation of Modal Damping in Power Networks

This paper describes a new Fourier-based sliding window method for estimating the damping of exponentially decaying modes that occur in power networks as a result of electric disturbances. The key innovation in the new method is the use of multiple orthogonal sliding windows rather than just a single pair of sliding windows. The use of these multiple orthogonal windows allows least-squares averaging strategies to be used, enabling lower variance estimates to be obtained as a result. A statistical analysis is provided, and simulations are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the new method. The technique is also applied to real power system data.