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Nearly all studies of impulsive geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs, also known as magnetic perturbation events MPEs) that can produce dangerous geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) have used data from the northern hemisphere. In this study, we investigated GMD occurrences during the first 6 months of 2016 at four magnetically conjugate high latitude station pairs using data from the Greenland West Coast magnetometer chain and from Antarctic stations in the conjugate AAL-PIP magnetometer chain. Events for statistical analysis and four case studies were selected from Greenland/AAL-PIP data by detecting the presence of >6 nT/s derivatives of any component of the magnetic field at any of the station pairs. For case studies, these chains were supplemented by data from the BAS-LPM chain in Antarctica as well as Pangnirtung and South Pole in order to extend longitudinal coverage to the west. Amplitude comparisons between hemispheres showed (a) a seasonal dependence (larger in the winter hemisphere), and (b) a dependence on the sign of the By component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF): GMDs were larger in the north (south) when IMF By was >0 (<0). A majority of events occurred nearly simultaneously (to within ±3 min) independent of the sign of By as long as |By| ≤ 2 |Bz|. As has been found in earlier studies, IMF Bz was <0 prior to most events. When IMF data from Geotail, Themis B, and/or Themis C in the near-Earth solar wind were used to supplement the time-shifted OMNI IMF data, the consistency of these IMF orientations was improved.

Rapid changes of magnetic fields associated with nighttime magnetic perturbation events (MPEs) with amplitudes |ΔB| of hundreds of nT and 5–10 min duration can induce geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) that can harm technological systems. This study compares the occurrence and amplitude of nighttime MPEs with |dB/dt| ≥ 6 nT/s observed during 2015 and 2017 at five stations in Arctic Canada ranging from 64.7° to 75.2° in corrected geomagnetic latitude (MLAT) as functions of magnetic local time (MLT), the SME (SuperMAG version of AE) and SYM/H magnetic indices, and time delay after substorm onsets. Although most MPEs occurred within 30 min after a substorm onset, ∼10% of those observed at the four lower latitude stations occurred over two hours after the most recent onset. A broad distribution in local time appeared at all five stations between 1700 and 0100 MLT, and a narrower distribution appeared at the lower latitude stations between 0200 and 0700 MLT. There was little or no correlation between MPE amplitude and the SYM/H index; most MPEs at all stations occurred for SYM/H values between −40 and 0 nT. SME index values for MPEs observed >1 h after the most recent substorm onset fell in the lower half of the range of SME values for events during substorms, and dipolarizations in synchronous orbit at GOES 13 during these events were weaker or more often nonexistent. These observations suggest that substorms are neither necessary nor sufficient to cause MPEs, and hence predictions of GICs cannot focus solely on substorms.

Nearly all studies of impulsive magnetic perturbation events (MPEs) with large magnetic field variability (dB/dt) that can produce dangerous geomagnetically‐induced currents (GICs) have used data from the northern hemisphere. Here we present details of four large‐amplitude MPE events (|ΔBx|> 900 nT and|dB/dt|> 10 nT/s in at least one component) observed between 2015 and 2018 in conjugate high latitude regions (65‐80° corrected geomagnetic latitude), using magnetometer data from (1) Pangnirtung and Iqaluit in eastern Arctic Canada and the magnetically conjugate South Pole Station in Antarctica and (2) the Greenland West Coast Chain and two magnetically conjugate chains in Antarctica, AAL‐PIP and BAS LPM. From 1 to 3 different isolated MPEs localized in corrected geomagnetic latitude were observed during 3 pre‐midnight events; many were simultaneous within 3 min in both hemispheres. Their conjugate latitudinal amplitude profiles, however, matched qualitatively at best. During an extended post‐midnight interval, which we associate with an interval of omega bands, multiple highly localized MPEs occurred independently in time at each station in both hemispheres. These nighttime MPEs occurred under a wide range of geomagnetic conditions, but common to each was a negative IMF Bz that exhibited at least a modest increase at or near the time of the event. A comparison of perturbation amplitudes to modeled ionospheric conductances in conjugate hemispheres clearly favored a current generator model over a voltage generator model for 3 of the 4 events; neither model provided a good fit for the pre‐midnight event that occurred near vernal equinox.

The daily maximum relativistic electron flux at geostationary orbit can be predicted well with a set of daily averaged predictor variables including previous day's flux, seed electron flux, solar wind velocity and number density, AE index, IMF Bz, Dst, and ULF and VLF wave power. As predictor variables are intercorrelated, we used multiple regression analyses to determine which are the most predictive of flux when other variables are controlled. Empirical models produced from regressions of flux on measured predictors from 1 day previous were reasonably effective at predicting novel observations. Adding previous flux to the parameter set improves the prediction of the peak of the increases but delays its anticipation of an event. Previous day's solar wind number density and velocity, AE index, and ULF wave activity are the most significant explanatory variables; however, the AE index, measuring substorm processes, shows a negative correlation with flux when other parameters are controlled. This may be due to the triggering of electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves by substorms that cause electron precipitation. VLF waves show lower, but significant, influence. The combined effect of ULF and VLF waves shows a synergistic interaction, where each increases the influence of the other on flux enhancement. Correlations between observations and predictions for this 1 day lag model ranged from 0.71 to 0.89 (average: 0.78). A path analysis of correlations between predictors suggests that solar wind and IMF parameters affect flux through intermediate processes such as ring current (Dst), AE, and wave activity.

Many solar wind and magnetosphere parameters correlate with relativistic electron flux following storms. These include relativistic electron flux before the storm, seed electron flux, solar wind velocity and number density (and their variation), IMF Bz, AE and Kp indices, and ultra low frequency (ULF) and very low frequency (VLF) wave power. However, as all these variables are intercorrelated, we use multiple regression analyses to determine which are the most predictive of flux when other variables are controlled. Using 219 storms (1992-2002), we obtained hourly averaged electron fluxes for outer radiation belt relativistic electrons (>1.5 MeV) and seed electrons (100 keV) from LANL spacecraft (geosynchronous orbit). For each storm, we found the log10 maximum relativistic electron flux 48-120 hours after the end of the main phase of each storm. Each predictor variable was averaged over the 12 hours before the storm, main phase, and the 48 hours following minimum Dst. High levels of flux following storms are best modeled by a set of variables. In decreasing influence, ULF, seed electron flux, Vsw and its variation, and after-storm Bz were the most significant explanatory variables. Kp can be added to the model, but it adds no further explanatory power. Although we included ground-based VLF power from Halley, Antarctica, it shows little predictive ability. We produced predictive models using the coefficients from the regression models, and assessed their effectiveness in predicting novel observations. The correlation between observed values and those predicted by these empirical models ranged from .645 to .795.