Visualization of power system data

Effective power system operation requires power system engineers and operators to analyze vast amounts of information. In systems containing thousands of buses, a key challenge is to present this data in a form such that the user can assess the state of the system in an intuitive and quick manner. This is particularly true when trying to analyze relationships between actual network power flows, the scheduled power flows, and the capacity of the transmission system. With restructuring and the move towards having a single entity, such as an independent system operator or pool, operate a much larger system, this need has become more acute. This paper presents several power system visualization techniques to help in this task. These techniques include animation of power system flow values, contouring of bus and transmission line flow values, data aggregation techniques and virtual reality data visualization.