Small scale irregularities associated with a high latitude electron density gradient - Scintillation and EISCAT observations

A coordinated experiment involving scintillation observations using Navy Navigation Satellite System satellites and special program measurements with the European incoherent scatter inospheric radar facility is described. The results reveal the presence of sub-kilometer scale irregularities in the vicinity of a long lived steep equatorwards gradient in electron density. Evidence is presented of a southwards plasma flow which would cause the gradient to be unstable to the E-B gradient-drift mechanism. An instability growth time of about 4 min has been estimated from the observations. Cooler electron temperatures associated with enhanced densities rules out soft particle precipitation as an irregularity source in this case.