1

Abstract This paper describes development of a Synchro-

Phasor Assisted State Estimator (SPASE). In addition to having
the capability to incorporate voltage and current phasor mea-
surements, this state estimator provides some novel metrics re-
lated to measurement configuration and quality in order to im-
prove reliability, accuracy, solution performance and measure-
ment design. It also creates the necessary output files that will
enable importance-based visualization of these metrics as well as
the solution of the state estimator.

Index Terms State Estimation, synchronized phasor mea-
surements, observability analysis, bad data processing, PMU,
visualization, measurement design.
I. EXTENDED ABSTRACT
State estimation plays a key role in the power system secure
operation [1]. It provides an optimal estimation of current
power system states based on the received measurements and
network topology [2]. One of the essential state variables in
state estimation is the bus voltage phase angle, which was not
available before. Recently, synchronized phasor (Synchro-
phasor) measurements, which can provide the direct mea-
surement of phase angles, have started to become available in
the system. Phasor measurement units (PMUs) are devices
which use synchronization signals from the global positioning
system (GPS) satellites and provide the positive sequence
phasor voltages and currents measured at a given substation.
SPASE Software Development
This state estimator has the following properties.
Accepts conventional measurements as well as synchro-
nized phasor measurements. Note that SPASE will accept
both voltage and current phasor measurements.
Carries out network observability analysis and identifies
observable islands. Identification of observable islands in
the presence of voltage and current phasor measurements
requires revisions in the implementation of existing network
observability analysis methods.
Optimally places pseudo-measurements from a list of avail-
able pseudo-measurements in order to merge observable isl-
ands without introducing any redundant pseudo-
measurements, so that propagation of errors from pseudo-
measurements to existing measurements will be strictly
avoided.
Identifies all critical measurements in the system. SPASE
will provide a list of critical measurements whose bad data
cannot be detected. SPASE will identify and list critical
measurements of both conventional and phasor types [3].
Processes measurements to detect and identify bad data
[4,5]. Note that errors associated with PMU measurements
will also be detected and identified. This will require a
reference-free problem formulation of state estimation [6].
Provides the necessary data for the visualization software so
that observable islands, critical measurements, and identi-
fied bad data can be clearly visualized. It is expected that
such visualizations will enhance operators experience at the
control centers.
The solution algorithm includes conventional measurements;
namely real and reactive power flows, real and reactive injec-
tions, bus voltage magnitudes and branch current magnitudes.
In addition, the new estimator allows inclusion of branch cur-
rent phasors (magnitude and phase angle) and bus voltage
phasors (magnitude and angle). It solves the state estimation
problem incorporating PMU measurements. Bad data (both
conventional and PMU type) corrupt the estimation solution
and yield a biased (i.e., incorrect) state estimate. Detection
and identification of bad data constitutes one of the main and
most useful features of any state estimator. Following the
state estimation solution, a post-processing function provides
tests for bad data.
Visualization
The estimator will compute and save variables which will be
used for displaying and visualizing different types of informa-
tion to the system operator. Network observability routine
will determine all observable islands. Locations of optimally
chosen pseudo-measurements will also be provided so that
they can be shown on the same display where observable
islands are shown. Finally, all critical measurements will be
displayed separately, showing the vulnerable spots in the mea-
surement system. After each state estimation execution, the
importance of data to be visualized will depend on the opera-
tors concerns. Bad data alert (from the output of the bad data
processor) will imply that bad data locations may be important
to visualize. Critical measurement locations will be important
Synchro-Phasor Assisted State Estimation (SPASE)
Ali Abur, IEEE Fellow
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115 (ab-
ur@ece.neu.edu)
Floyd Galvan
Entergy Corp., New Orleans, LA
978-1-4577-2159-5/12/$31.00 2011 IEEE
2
when results appear unreasonable to the operator, yet no bad
data flags are issued by the program, implying that undetected
bad data may be the culprit and such cases are linked to criti-
cal measurements.

Phasor Measurement Unit Placement

Choice of locations to place PMUs will be done by measure-
ment design software [7]. Optimal placement of PMUs will
have two important benefits: one is allowing the system to be
observed with minimum number of PMUs and the other is to
enable observability of a certain subsection which may be
defined with respect to voltage levels, geographical regions or
any other user-defined criteria. Such strategic deployment of
PMUs will take advantage of their capabilities for different
power system monitoring and control applications.

Remarks and Conclusions

This paper describes the development of a state estimator that
can incorporate phasor measurements. Benefits of having
synchro-phasors as part of the measurement set are hig-
hlighted. Visualization of novel metrics related to the system
states as well as measurements is also discussed.

Acknowledgments

This work is supported in part by Entergys DOE Smart Grid
Investment Grant Phasor Project. DOE Program Manager
Philip Overholts help and guidance are gratefully acknowl-
edged.
II. REFERENCES
[1] F. F. Wu, K. Moslehi, A. Bose, Power System Control Centers: Past,
Present, and Future, Proceedings of the IEEE (Special Issues on
Power Technology and Public Policy: Forty Years After the 1965
Blackout), Nov. 2005
[2] A. Abur and A. Gmez-Expsito, Power System State Estimation:
Theory and Implementation, Book, Marcel Dekker, 2004.
[3] Chen Jian and A. Abur, Placement of PMUs to Enable Bad Data De-
tection in State Estimation, IEEE Trans. on Power Systems, Volume
21, No:4, November 2006, pp.1608-1615.
[4] A. Monticellli and A. Garcia, "Reliable Bad Data Processing for Real-
Time State Estimation", IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol. PAS-102, No3, pp.1126-1139, 1983
[5] A. Garcia, A. Monticelli and P. Abreu, "Fast Decoupled State Estima-
tion and Bad Data Processing" , IEEE Transactions on Power Appara-
tus and Systems, Vol. PAS-98, pp. 1645-1652, September 1979
[6] Zhu Jun and Abur, A., Effect of Phasor Measurements on the Choice
of Reference Bus for State Estimation, Proceedings of 2007 PES
General Meeting, June 24-28 2007, Tampa, Florida.
[7] B. Xu and A. Abur, Optimal placement of phasor measurement units
for state estimation, PSerc Project Report 05-58, Oct. 2005.