Making Prony analysis more accurate using multiple signals

Prony analysis has proven to be a valuable tool in estimating the modal content of power oscillations from measured ringdowns. The accuracy of the mode estimates is limited by the noise content always found in field measured signals. Current Prony analysis methods assume the system to be single output, and individual signals are analyzed independently often resulting in conflicting frequency and damping estimates (due to noise effects). This paper considers a simple extension to Prony analysis that allows multiple signals to be analyzed simultaneously resulting in one set of mode estimates. Examples are used to show that this extension improves the accuracy of modal estimates and simplifies the analysis steps. The first example uses a Monte Carlo type simulation model and the second analyzes field measured data from the western North American power system.