4. Observation Capability of Measuring Systems

This chapter provides the elements necessary to characterize the observation capability of measuring systems designed to serve the power system state estimation (SE) function. Two main approaches to the observability analysis problem, segmented into numerical and topological, are addressed. The numerical approach involves matrix manipulation, performing straightforward floating-point arithmetic operations with routines already present in estimation process calculations. On the other hand, the topological methods are based on the graph theory. They are adequate from the conceptual perspective since the observability problem is considered structural natured, i.e., dependent on the grid topology and the type/placement of measurements. Illustrative examples of the numerical and topological approaches are included. The chapter contains a section on advanced topics and ends with proposed problems. A list of references is included.