From the data of solar wind observation by ACE spacecraft orbiting the Earth-Sun Lagrangian point, we selected 48 forward interplanetary shocks(IPSs) occurred in 2000, maximum solar activity period. Examining the profiles of solar wind parameters, the IPSs are classified by their shock drivers. The significant shock drivers are the interplanetary coronal mass ejection(ICME) and the high speed stream(HSS). The IPSs driven by the ICMEs are classified into shocks driven by magnetic clouds and by ejectas based on the existence of magnetic flux rope structure and magnetic field strength. Some IPSs could be formed as the blast wave by the smaller energy and shorter duration of shock drivers such as type II radio burst. Out of selected 48 forward IPSs, 56.2% of the IPSs are driven by ICME, 16.7% by HSS, and 16.7% of the shocks are classified into blast-wave type shocks. However, the shock drivers of remaining 10% of the IPSs are unidentified. The classification of the IPSs by their driver is a first step toward investigating the critical magnitudes of the IPS drivers commencing the magnetic storms in each class.

Storm sudden commencements (SSCs) occur due to a rapid compression of the Earth's magnetic field. This is generally believed to be caused by interplanetary (IP) shocks, but with exceptions. In this paper we explore possible causes of SSCs other than IP shocks through a statistical study of geomagnetic storms using SYM-H data provided by the World Data Center for Geomagnetism – Kyoto and by applying a superposed epoch analysis to simultaneous solar wind parameters obtained with the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite. We select a total of 274 geomagnetic storms with minimum SYM-H of less than –30nT during 1998-2008 and regard them as SSCs if SYM-H increases by more than 10 nT over 10 minutes. Under this criterion, we found 103 geomagnetic storms with both SSC and IP shocks and 28 storms with SSC not associated with IP shocks. Storms in the former group share the property that the strength of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), proton density and proton velocity increase together with SYM-H, implying the action of IP shocks. During the storms in the latter group, only the proton density rises with SYM-H. We find that the density increase is associated with either high speed streams (HSSs) or interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), and suggest that HSSs and ICMEs may be alternative contributors to SSCs.