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A study on the peak Dst and peak negative Bz relationship during intense geomagnetic storms
Author(s) -
Gonzalez W. D.,
Echer E.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl023486
Subject(s) - ring current , geomagnetic storm , earth's magnetic field , magnetosphere , solar wind , space weather , storm , interplanetary magnetic field , physics , interplanetary spaceflight , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , meteorology , magnetic field , quantum mechanics
This paper is a study of the relationship between the geomagnetic storm index Dst and the southward component, Bs, of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) driver. This study was performed during the ACE observational period (1997–2002), for which 64 intense geomagnetic storms (Dst ≤ −85 nT) were analyzed. After taking into account the propagation time between the L1 point and Earth (∼1 h) and the magnetosphere/ring current response‐time to solar wind forcing (∼1 h), it was determined that the average delay between the peak Bs and the peak Dst values is ∼2 h. It was also observed that the Bs value at peak Dst is ∼75% of the peak Bs value in the entire event. When these results are analyzed in terms of the interplanetary electric field, associated with Bz, some interesting additional studies are indicated, for which some simple results, of practical space weather forecasting use, are anticipated.