The prediction of AE, ap, and Dst at time lags between 0 and 30 hours

The magnetic activity indexes AE, ap, and Dst are correlated with approximately 35,000 hours of interplanetary plasma and magnetic field measurements acquired near the Earth (assembled by NASA/NSSDC into a composite data sat). Lag times between the indexes and solar wind parameters ranged from 0 to 30 hours. Correlations at lags less than 6 hours yield results in agreement with previous studies. At greater lags, the correlation coefficients between the solar wind parameters and AE and ap approach these parameters' autocorrelation (persistence) values. For Dst the correlation with solar wind parameters is lower than that with AE and ap in the 3 to 4 hour lag range whereas the autocorrelation of Dst is significantly higher over the entire 0 to 30 hour lag range. The implications of these differences between AE, ap, and Dst are discussed in terms of persistence of solar wind structure.