Ionospheric holes - A review of theory and recent experiments

Artificially induced ionospheric holes result from in situ injections of highly reactive molecules, which greatly enhance the chemical recombination rates between the ions and electrons found in the upper atmosphere. During the past decade, experiment-of-opportunity observations, theory and computer simulations have succeeded in establishing plasma-depletion experiments as a useful tool for probing the normal and disturbed behavior of the ionosphere. Ionospheric-hole experiments now focus on applications of the technique to laboratory-in-space investigations of various space plasma processes.