Deep Neural Networks With Convolutional and LSTM Layers for SYM‐H and ASY‐H Forecasting

Abstract

AbstractGeomagnetic indices quantify the disturbance caused by the solar activity on a planetary scale or in particular regions of the Earth. Among them, the SYM‐H and ASY‐H indices represent the (longitudinally) symmetric and asymmetric geomagnetic disturbance of the horizontal component of the magnetic field at midlatitude with a 1‐min resolution. Their resolution, along with their relation to the solar wind parameters, makes the forecasting of the geomagnetic indices a problem that can be addressed through the use of Deep Learning, particularly using Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). In this work, we present two DNNs developed to forecast respectively the SYM‐H and ASY‐H indices. Both networks have been trained using the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) and the related index for the solar storms occurred in the last two solar cycles. As a result, the networks are able to accurately forecast the indices 2 h in advance, considering the IMF and indices values for the previous 200 min. The evaluation of both networks reveals a great forecasting precision, including good predictions for large storms that occurred during the solar cycle 23 and comparing with the persistence model for the period 2013–2020.