A NEW SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF IONOSPHERIC TOMOGRAPHY USING QUADRATIC-PROGRAMMING

A new independent method for reconstructing tomographic images of the ionosphere is described. The mathematical approach makes use of an int erior-point algorithm for solving quadratic programing problems. The p rocedure has been designed to be fully automated and to work in either two or three dimensions. Results are presented using experimental dat a obtained during a campaign carried out in Scandinavia in November 19 95 for which independent verification from the European incoherent sca tter (EISCAT) radar and the Kiruna ionosonde are available. A comparis on is made between the mean diurnal variation of maximum electron dens ity obtained from the tomographic reconstructions and the parameterize d ionospheric model.