RESPONSE OF F-REGION VERTICAL DRIFT AT THE MAGNETIC EQUATOR TO THE INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC-FIELD FLUCTUATIONS

The response of fluctuations in the vertical drift (V(d)) in the equatorial F-region to the fluctuations in the IMF north-south component (B(z)) has been studied. It is found that, in general, there exists fluctuations of periodicity 34 h in both V(d) and IMF B(z). To study the relationship between the short period fluctuations in V(d) and IMF B(z) component, the power spectrum of both the parameters were evaluated using 5-min averaged values. Both the parameters showed somewhat similar spectrum with a strong peak around 37 min, implying a good correlation between the two parameters on a short time scale also.