Non-storm irregular variation of the D_st index

Abstract. The D_st index has a long-term variation that is not associated with magnetic storms. We estimated the long-term non-storm component of the D_st variation by removing the short-term variation related to magnetic storms. The results indicate that the variation of the non-storm component includes not only a seasonal variation but also an irregular variation. The irregular long-term variation is likely to be due to an anti-correlation with the long-term variation of solar-wind activity. In particular, a clear anti-correlation is observed between the non-storm component of D_st and the long-term variation of the solar-wind dynamic pressure. This means that in the long term, the D_st index tends to increase when the solar-wind dynamic pressure decreases. We interpret this anti-correlation as an indication that the long-term non-storm variation of D_st is influenced by the tail current variation. The long-term variation of the solar-wind dynamic pressure controls the plasma sheet thermal pressure, and the change of the plasma sheet thermal pressure would cause the non-storm tail current variation, resulting in the non-storm variation of D_st.