High-latitude application of three-dimensional over-the-horizon radar

The Earth's geomagnetic poles represent the axis of a dipole field of best fit to the Earth's true magnetic field. Canada currently hosts the Geomagnetic North Pole on Ellesmere Island, near 80 N 75 W. In the vicinity of the geomagnetic pole, the magnetic field lines of the Earth extend many Earth radii into space and interact with the solar wind, leading to particle precipitation and horizontal ionospheric plasma drifts. Particle precipitation produces the visible Aurora Borealis in the area shown as green in Figure 1, which we denote the auroral oval. North of the auroral oval is the region of the polar cap, where the solar wind drives horizontal plasma drifts, shown by the red contours in Figure 1. Previous over-thehorizon radar (OTHR) experiments have looked at operation in both the auroral oval and the polar cap.