A radar experiment was conducted on 18 August 1978 at Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, to investigate the spatial relationship of 1-m equatorial spread-F irregularities to plasma bubbles (localized depletions in F-layer plasma density). East-west scans were made with ALTAIR, an incoherent-scatter radar, to spatially map (1) the backscatter produced by field-aligned irregularities, and (2) the electron-density distribution of the background F layer. Plasma bubbles were spatially mapped for the first time with an incoherent-scatter radar. By assuming invariance along the magnetic field lines (over distances of less than 100 km), we show that 1-m field-aligned irregularities are directly related to plasma bubbles. (Author)

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