Abstract. The only published description of the solar wind sector
(SS) term used for the reference level in the post-event and real-time
derivation of the Polar Cap (PC) indices, PCN (Polar Cap North) and PCS (Polar Cap South), in
the version endorsed by the International Association for Geomagnetism and
Aeronomy (IAGA) is found in the commented publication, Janzhura and
Troshichev: Identification of the IMF sector structure in near-real time by
ground magnetic data, Annales Geophysicae, 29, 1491–1500, 2011. Actually, the
publication has served as a basis for the index endorsement by IAGA in 2013.
However, neither the illustrations nor the results presented there have been
derived by the specified near real-time method. Figures 1, 6, 7, and 8 display
values derived by post-event calculations based on daily medians smoothed
over 7 d centred on the day of interest. Figures 2, 3, and 4 display
observed values smoothed over 7 d, while the remaining Fig. 5 displays
averages over 4 months. In summary, there are strong disagreements between
indications in the title, abstract, and statements in the text compared to
the actual results and their illustrations.