Spectral analysis of geomagnetically induced current and local magnetic field during the 17 March 2013 geomagnetic storm

Geomagnetically induced current (GIC) is known to be closely related to the rate of change of local horizontal magnetic field (dBx/ dt); and their spectra can give better insight into the relationship. We study the spectral characteristics of GIC measured in Finland and dBx/dt measured 30 km away during the 17 March 2013 intense geomagnetic storm (SymHMin = -132 nT). Two bursts of large GIC (up to 32A) and dBx/dt occurred at similar to 16 UT and 18 UT during the storm main phase. For the first time, the cross wavelet transform (XWT) and wavelet coherence (WTC) techniques are used to investigate the correlation and phase relationship of GIC and dBx/dt in time-frequency domain. Their WTC correlation is strong (over 0.9) over the entire storm period, indicating dBx/dt is the main factor causing GIC. Their XWT spectra show two enclosed periods (8-42 min and 2-42 min) in the high energy region corresponding to the two bursts of activity in GIC and dBx/dt. Morever, we use continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to analyze the spectral characteristics of GIC and dBx/dt. It is found that the CWT and DWT spectra of the two are very similar, especially in the low frequency characteristics, without continuous periodicity. Wavelet coefficients become large when GIC and dBx/dT are large; and the third-order coefficient, which corresponds to low-frequency part, best reflects the disturbance of GIC and dBx/dt. (C) 2022 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigates the correlation and phase relationship between geomagnetically induced current (GIC) and the rate of change of local horizontal magnetic field (dBx/dt) by analyzing their spectra. The cross wavelet transform (XWT) and wavelet coherence (WTC) techniques reveal a strong correlation (over 0.9) between GIC and dBx/dt throughout the intense geomagnetic storm. The XWT spectra show two enclosed periods in the high energy region corresponding to bursts of activity in GIC and dBx/dt. Additionally, the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) spectra of GIC and dBx/dt exhibit similar characteristics, especially in the low-frequency range.