Behaviour of auroral activity as a function of the interplanetary magnetic field

Variations of power flux in northern and southern hemispheres were analysed as a function of the interplanetary magnetic field orientation near the Earth. The period since 1978 till 2001 was covered. It is shown that power flux increases when the magnetic field has Bz<0 and By<0, and when the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field increases. Auroral activity is maximum near the equinoxes and is minimum near the solstices. The dependence of the auroral activity on IMF orientation has a strong asymmetry in heliographic inertial coordinates. A seasonal asymmetry of the power flux distribution in GSM system may be explained by a global asymmetry of the same distribution in the heliographic inertial coordinates.