Wp index: A new substorm index derived from high-resolution geomagnetic field data at low latitude

Geomagnetic field data with high time resolution (typically 1 s) have recently become more commonly acquired by ground stations. Such high time resolution data enable identifying Pi2 pulsations which have periods of 40–150 s and irregular (damped) waveforms. It is well-known that pulsations of this type are clearly observed at mid- and low-latitude ground stations on the nightside at substorm onset. Therefore, with 1-s data from multiple stations distributed in longitude around the Earth's circumference, substorm onset can be regularly monitored. In the present study we propose a new substorm index, the Wp index (Wave and planetary), which reflects Pi2 wave power at low-latitude, using geomagnetic field data from 11 ground stations. We compare the Wp index with the AE and ASY indices as well as the electron flux and magnetic field data at geosynchronous altitudes for 11 March 2010. We find that significant enhancements of the Wp index mostly coincide with those of the other data. Thus the Wp index can be considered a good indicator of substorm onset. The Wp index, other geomagnetic indices, and geosynchronous satellite data are plotted in a stack for quick and easy search of substorm onset. The stack plots and digital data of the Wp index are available at the Web site (http://s-cubed.info) for public use. These products would be useful to investigate and understand space weather events, because substorms cause injection of intense fluxes of energetic electrons into the inner magnetosphere and potentially have deleterious impacts on satellites by inducing surface charging

Nonlinear time series analysis of geomagnetic pulsations

A detailed nonlinear time series analysis has been made of two daytime geomagnetic pulsation events being recorded at L'Aquila (Italy, L ≈ 1.6) and Niemegk (Germany, L ≈ 2.3). Grassberger and Procaccia algorithm has been used to investigate the dimensionality of physical processes. Surrogate data test and self affinity (fractal) test have been used to exclude coloured noise with power law spectra. Largest Lyapunow exponents have been estimated using the methods of Wolf et al. The problems of embedding, stability of estimations, spurious correlations and nonlinear noise reduction have also been discussed. The main conclusions of this work, which include some new results on the geomagnetic pulsations, are (1) that the April 26, 1991 event, represented by two observatory time series LAQ1 and NGK1 is probably due to incoherent waves; no finite correlation dimension was found in this case, and (2) that the June 18, 1991 event represented by observatory time series LAQ2 and NGK2, is due to low dimensional nonlinear dynamics, which include deterministic chaos with correlation dimension D2(NGK2) = 2.25 ± 0.05 and D2(NDK2) = 2.02 ± 0.03, and with positive Lyapunov exponents λ_max (LAQ2) = 0.055 ± 0.003 bits/s and λ_max (NGK2) = 0.052 ± 0.003 bits/s; the predictability time in both cases is ≈ 13 s