WAMS

WAMS is an acronym used in multiple domains, but the most established meaning in engineering is Wide Area Monitoring System, a framework designed to monitor and enhance the stability and reliability of large electric power networks.

In power engineering, a Wide Area Monitoring System collects time-synchronized measurements from phasor measurement units across a wide area and transmits them over secure communications to centralized or distributed processing facilities. Core components include PMUs, data concentrators (or phasor data collectors), data historians, and visualization or control interfaces. Measurements are time-stamped using GPS timing, enabling real-time state estimation, dynamic monitoring, oscillation detection, event analysis, and rapid disturbance localization. WAMS supports applications such as enhanced situational awareness, early warning of instability, contingency analysis, and improved protection and dispatch decisions. Standards such as IEEE C37.118 define the formats and performance expectations for synchrophasor data within WAMS. Benefits include improved observability, faster response to disturbances, and greater resilience of the grid, while challenges involve cybersecurity, data quality and latency, interoperability among devices from different vendors, and the need for robust communications infrastructure.

Outside power systems, WAMS can refer to other organizations or systems in different sectors. The term is an acronym used in various contexts, so meanings may vary by domain.