Solar wind drivers of large geomagnetically induced currents during the solar cycle 23

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the interplanetary drivers of the largest geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) during the solar cycle 23. Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are the major causes of intense geomagnetic storms and large GIC. In particular, in this work we examine the effectiveness of different structures embedded in an ICME (namely sheath regions, ejecta, and boundary layers) in causing large GIC. It was found that when an ICME interacts with the Earth's magnetosphere the most intense GIC activity is likely to take place during the passage of the turbulent sheath region. The effectiveness of sheath regions in driving large GIC is possibly due to their capability to trigger substorms and to drive intense directly driven ionospheric activity. We also investigated the relationships between different solar wind parameters and the GIC amplitudes. The best correlation with the GIC amplitudes was found with the solar wind electric field and the epsilon parameter. Ejecta‐associated GIC seem to require an on‐going magnetospheric Dst storm while sheath regions and boundary layers can cause large GIC even when no activity is taking place in terms of Dst. Interestingly, four of the nine ejecta‐associated GIC took place during the recovery phases of a intense magnetic storm (but when Dst still was having storm time values below −50 nT).