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The Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) on NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) reports the in-situ ion density, ion temperature and 3-component ion drift velocity, retrieved from measurements by a retarding potential analyzer and an ion drift meter. ICON was launched during a deep solar minimum in late 2019, followed by a solar quiet (F10.7 < 80) period until September 2020. In order to quantify the uncertainties in the IVM’s drift velocity in a low plasma density environment, we compared IVM’s vertical drift velocity with eastward electric field (EEF) obtained from Swarm’s equatorial electrojet current measurements, the vertical drift from ground-based incoherent scatter radar (ISR) at Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO) and from Jicamarca Unattended Long-term studies of Ionosphere and Atmosphere (JULIA) coherent mode. The main results of this study show that (1) the vertical drift derived from Swarm’s EEF and …