The disturbance storm time (Dst, Kyoto Dst) index is a measure in the context of space weather. It gives information about the strength of the ring current around Earth caused by solar protons and electrons.
The ring current around Earth produces a magnetic field that is directly opposite Earth's magnetic field; that is, if the difference between solar electrons and protons gets higher, then Earth's magnetic field becomes weaker.
A negative Dst value means that Earth's magnetic field is weakened. This is particularly the case during solar storms.
Its units are typically measured in nT (nano-Tesla).
See also
External links
- The Dst index homepage provided by Kyoto University
- Dst at NOAA/NGDC
- Dst as part of SWENET Latest Alerts Archived 2012-02-09 at the Wayback Machine (on ESA's Space Weather Portal)
References
Masters, Jeff. "A future Space Weather catastrophe : a disturbing possibility". Weather Underground. Retrieved 16 October 2017. https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/a-future-space-weather-catastrophe--a-disturbing-possibility.html ↩