Resolute Bay Incoherent Scatter Radar observations of plasma structures in the vicinity of polar holes

摘要

The Resolute Bay Incoherent Scatter Radar North (RISR-N) data collected between January 2012 and June 2013 are employed to identify and analyze 14 events with significant plasma density depressions (N_e 150 km), with no apparent differences between structure shapes outside and inside low-density regions. The structure propagation velocity is perpendicular to its elongation direction and consistent with that of the large-scale plasma convection. The observations indicate that large-scale density depressions can form under a variety of convection conditions and that plasma structuring processes outside the depressions may be responsible for their partial filling.