The temporal variability of the longitudinal plasma density structure in the low-latitude F -region

Formation of longitudinally wave-like plasma density structure in the low-latitude F region is now a well-known phenomenon from the extensive studies in recent years. Observations of plasma density from multiple satellites have shown that the locations of the crests of the plasma density that are seen to be stationary during daytime are shifted after sunset. This phenomenon has been understood to be caused by eastward drift of the ionosphere at night. However, the eastward drift velocity of the ionosphere after sunset is not sufficiently large enough to explain the day-night difference in the longitudinal density structure. The just after sunset and the nighttime ionospheric morphologymay be affected by this drift after sunset. In this study, we will investigate the temporal variation of the phase of the longitudinal density structure and vertical plasma drift by analyzing the ROCSAT-1, TIMED/GUVI, and DMSP data and verify the role of the vertical drift after sunset in the change of the phase of the longitudinal density structure.