Influence of Off‐Sun‐Earth Line Distance on the Accuracy of L1 Solar Wind Monitoring

Upstream solar wind measurements from near the L1 Lagrangian point are commonly used to investigate solar wind-magnetosphere coupling. The off-Sun-Earth line distance of such solar wind monitors can be large, up to 100 R-E. We investigate how the correlation between measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field and associated ionospheric responses deteriorates as the off-Sun-Earth line distance increases. Specifically, we use the magnitude and polarity of the dayside region 0 field-aligned currents (R0 FACs) as a measure of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) B-Y-associated magnetic tension effects on newly-reconnected field lines, related to the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect. The R0 FACs are derived from Advanced Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment measurements by a principal component analysis, for the years 2010-2016. We perform cross-correlation analyses between time-series of IMF B-Y, measured by the Wind spacecraft and propagated to the nose of the bow shock by the OMNI technique, and these R0 FAC measurements. Typically, in the summer hemisphere, cross-correlation coefficients between 0.6 and 0.9 are found. However, there is a reduction of order 0.1-0.15 in correlation coefficient between periods when Wind is close to (within 45 R-E) and distant from (beyond 70 R-E) the Sun-Earth line. We find a time-lag of around 17 min between predictions of the arrival of IMF features at the bow shock and their effect in the ionosphere, irrespective of the location of Wind.