Predicting geomagnetic storms from solar wind

Streams of charged particles ejected from the Sun, known as the solar wind, interact with Earth's magnetosphere to produce geomagnetic storms that can damage power grids and satellites.

Predicting geomagnetic activity from upstream solar wind data depends on finding a "coupling function" that correlates solar wind parameters with geomagnetic activity indices. Lyatsky et al. developed a coupling function and tested it against four years of data on the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic fields. They find that their theoretical model correlates well with actual space environment parameters, surpassing other commonly used coupling functions. - American Geophysical Union