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Effects Of The Vertical Plasma Drift Velocity On The Generation And Evolution Of Equatorial Spread F, Bela G. Fejer, L. Scherliess, E. R. De Paula

Bela G. Fejer

We use radar observations from the Jicamarca Observatory from 1968 to 1992 to study the effects of the F region vertical plasma drift velocity on the generation and evolution of equatorial spread F. The dependence of these irregularities on season, solar cycle, and magnetic activity can be explained as resulting from the corresponding effects on the evening and nighttime vertical drifts. In the early night sector, the bottomside of the F layer is almost always unstable. The evolution of the unstable layer is controlled by the history of the vertical drift velocity. When the drift velocities are large enough, the …