Understanding the Suns processes and how they affect the Earth allows us to better understand climate change, main sequence stars, and aids in the understanding and prediction of space weather. The need for accurate space weather forecasting increases as our dependence on satellite communication ... Show moreUnderstanding the Suns processes and how they affect the Earth allows us to better understand climate change, main sequence stars, and aids in the understanding and prediction of space weather. The need for accurate space weather forecasting increases as our dependence on satellite communication and electric power grids grows. This work examines magnetospheric and ionospheric response to solar wind drivers during solar cycles 23 and 24 (years 2002 through 2010). To date, no studies on Sun-Earth coupling during this period have considered both ionospheric and magnetospheric response to various solar drivers. In this study several satellite data sets were used to examine solar parameters, relativistic and energetic electrons, nitric oxide (NO) infrared radiation and auroral power (Ap). Yearly time series, correlations, and trends in periodicities were examined for the entire period. Active years (2002 and 2003) and inactive years (2008 and 2009) were contrasted in attempts to develop an understanding of the underlying physical processes and relationships among solar, magnetospheric, and ionospheric parameters. Relativistic and energetic particles had the highest correlation with solar wind speed in general, especially during the extended solar minimum when high speed streams (HSS) were present (2008). Periodicity analysis showed dominance of the 27-day solar rotational period for the declining phase of cycle 23, and more prominent 7, 9 and 13.5-day periodicities for the solar minimum. These findings support previous work, and combine two areas of research to reveal a more complete view of Sun-Earth dynamics over this time period. Show less
