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Mechanisms Underlying The Prereversal Enhancement Of The Vertical Plasma Drift In The Low-Latitude Ionosphere, J. V. Eccles, J. P. St. Maurice, Robert W. Schunk

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The evening prereversal enhancement (PRE) of the vertical plasma drift has important consequences for the Appleton density anomaly and the stability of the nighttime ionosphere. Simplified simulations were used to review the three competing theories of the PRE origin, to explore their relative importance, and to indentify their interdependence. The mechanisms involved in the generation and climatology of the PRE are, first, a curl-free electric field response to rapid changes in the vertical electric field associated with the nighttime F region dynamo; second, a divergence of Hall currents in the E region away from the magnetic equator; and, third, the …