F region electric field effects on the intermediate layer dynamics during the evening prereversal enhancement at the equatorial region over Brazil

Abstract

It is well known that the electric field that controls the ionospheric plasma drifts is generated by the dynamo process in the E and F regions. During the day, the zonal electric field is directed to the east and produces the upward vertical drift, however, before its reversal to the west in the evening, a significant and fairly sharp increase in the eastward electric field is observed. This intensification in the vertical drift that is known as prereversal enhancement of the zonal electric field (PRE) is caused by the F region dynamo driven by the thermospheric zonal wind in the presence of a rapid decrease in the E layer conductivity across the terminator (I.