Strategy for Visual Measurement of Power Quality Based on Higher-Order Statistics and Exploratory Big Data Analysis

Featured Application The proposed visualization strategy can be applied in power quality monitoring systems to detect and characterize non-Gaussian disturbances caused by non-linear loads. It is especially useful for engineers and analysts working with large-scale energy data, supporting more efficient energy data management and cost optimization in industrial and smart grid environments.Abstract This article proposes a strategy for the visual characterization of power quality in big data analysis contexts, culminating in the development of a visualization tool based on higher-order statistics, which exhibits an efficiency between 83.33% and 100% in detecting 50 Hz synthetic and real-life simple and hybrid events, showing its significant potential for real-world applications marked by non-linear loads and non-Gaussian behaviors and surpassing the detection of traditional tools such as boxplot by up to 50%. Efficient energy management is closely accompanied by an optimum energy data management (EDM). It implies the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data to make decisions regarding the best energy usage with subsequent cost reductions. Through a study of indicators, including higher-order statistics, crest factor, SNR and THD, the article establishes nominal values and behavioral patterns, expanding the previous knowledge of these parameters. The indicators are presented as vertices in a radar-type charting tool, providing a multidimensional spatial visualization from individual indices that allows the behavioral pattern associated with each type of disturbance to be characterized combined with a decision tree. In addition, boxplots reflecting data processing are included, which facilitates the comparison and discussion of both visualization instruments: radar chart and boxplot.