MODEL-ASSISTED IONOSPHERIC TOMOGRAPHY - A NEW ALGORITHM

Ionospheric tomography uses total electron content (TEC) records colle cted by longitudinally aligned stations, which receive a beacon satell ite orbiting overhead. The electron density distribution is reconstruc ted for the region bounded by the satellite orbit and the line of grou nd receivers. A new reconstruction algorithm is described which satisf ies the TEC records, makes use of an ionospheric model, and allows the incorporation of complementary measurements. The new algorithm also a ccepts relative (rather than absolute) TEC as input data. A comparison of the new algorithm and one used recently shows significant improvem ent over early techniques, particularly when a scaled ionogram is incl uded in the data.