Abstract
Determining the nightside reconnection rate is an integral part in determining high-latitude convection. Obtaining a way to predict the nightside reconnection rate will therefore be an important step toward developing a way to forecast space weather. Using a time series of the open magnetic flux in the polar caps derived from the Active Magnetospheric and Planetary Electrodynamic Response Experiment (AMPERE) and interplanetary parameters from OMNI, I parameterize the nightside reconnection rate during times with contracting polar caps. This is done both directly by using Faraday's equation and by parametrizing the change in open magnetic flux in the polar caps. The maximum correlation between predicted and observed nightside reconnection rates exceeds 0.85, however, it is found that an independent trigger is needed to tell when the nightside reconnection starts and ends.