Empirical formula to relate the auroral electrojet intensity with interplanetary parameters

Abstract An empirical formula has been constructed using the results of correlative analyses to determine in what form the AL index, as a measure of the intensity of the westward auroral electrojet, depends on interplanetary parameters. The formula thus obtained shows that AL is mainly determined by B s V 2 where B s is the southward component of the IMF and V is the solar wind velocity, and is modulated in a characteristic way by the combined effect of the east-west component of the IMF and the tilt angle of the Earth's dipole axis toward the Sun-Earth line. In contrast, effects of the solar wind density and the IMF variability were found to be insignificant. Implications of the empirical formula are discussed mainly in relation to the problem of the location in the dayside magnetosphere of the region where the reconnection process to initiate the substorm takes place.