Abstract
This study attempts to show how the geomagnetic indices, AU, AL and Dst, respond to the interplanetary parameters, more specifically, the solar wind electric field VBz during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) period. The AU index does not seem to respond linearly to the variation of southward IMF. Only a noticeable correlation between the AU and VBz is shown during summer, when the ionospheric conductivity associated with the solar EUV radiation is high. It is highly likely that the effect of electric field on the eastward electrojet intensification is only noticeable whenever the ionospheric conductivity is significantly enhanced during summer. Thus, one should be very cautious in employing the AU as a convection index during other seasons. The AL index shows a significantly high correlation with VBz regardless of season. Considering that the auroral electrojet is the combined result of electric field and ionospheric conductivity, the intensification of these two quantities seems to occur concurrently during southward IMF period. This suggests that the AL index behaves more like a convection index rather than a substorm index as far as hourly mean AL index is concerned. Contrary to the AU index, the AL index does not register the maximum value during summer for a given level of VBz. It has something to do with the findings that discrete auroras are suppressed in sunlight hemisphere (Newell et al. 1996), thus reducing the ionospheric conductivity during summer. As expected, the Dst index tends to become more negative as VBz gets intensified. However, the Dst index (nT) is less than or equal to 15VBz(mV/m) + 50(Bz < 0). It indicates that VBz determines the lower limit of the storm size, while another factor(s), possibly substorm, seems to get further involved in intensifying storms. Although it has not been examined in this study, the duration of southward IMF would also be a factor to be considered in determining the size of a storm.