Tomographic methods for studying the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space: current state and development prospects

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Abstract

The review examines the physical and mathematical formulations of the tomography problem in relation to remote sensing of the atmosphere and near-Earth space. Special attention is given to ionospheric sensing using satellite beacon signals from low-orbit (Parus/Transit/Cassiope, etc.), medium-orbit, and high-orbit (GPS/GLONASS and new global satellite navigation systems) satellites. The capabilities and limitations of 2D low-orbit and 4D high-orbit ionospheric radio tomography methods are discussed, along with the results of radiotomographic reconstructions of electron density distribution at various latitudes under both natural and artificial disturbances. A separate focus is placed on studying small-scale ionospheric irregularities based on satellite signal amplitude scintillation data, as well as challenges in implementing such sensing schemes at high latitudes using GPS/GLONASS signals. Besides, the prospects of tomographic systems for upper atmosphere sensing are discussed, considering the significant reduction in the number of low-orbit satellites, the potential installation of satellite beacons on new platforms (CubeSat), and the use of radio tomography methods in ultraviolet tomography of the upper atmosphere. The first results obtained using the dual-frequency (150/400 MHz) coherent signal transmitter MAYAK onboard the satellites of the Russian “Ionosphere” project are presented.

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About the authors

A. M. Padokhin

Lomonosov Moscow State University; Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: achernyshov@cosmos.ru

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Physics Department

Russian Federation, Moscow; Troisk, Moscow

A. A. Chernyshov

Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: achernyshov@cosmos.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

E. S. Andreeva

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: achernyshov@cosmos.ru

Physics Department

Russian Federation, Moscow

M. O. Nazarenko

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: achernyshov@cosmos.ru

Physics Department

Russian Federation, Moscow

S. E. Andreevsky

Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: achernyshov@cosmos.ru
Russian Federation, Troisk, Moscow; Moscow

M. M. Mogilevsky

Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: achernyshov@cosmos.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

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Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
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2. Fig. 1. Scheme of conducting radio tomographic (RT) experiments on sounding the upper atmosphere and NES

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3. Fig. 2. Scheme for conducting tomographic experiments on probing the thermosphere in the UV range (a) and the corresponding geometry of the probing beams (b) [33]

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4. Fig. 3. Comparison of data from incoherent scatter radar (top) and RT (bottom) during the geomagnetic storm of 4.11.1993

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5. Fig. 4. Reconstruction of the distribution of electron concentration in the ionosphere in middle and high latitudes, obtained from the data of the Russian RT chain

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6. Fig. 5. Amplitude scintillations of the low-orbit satellite signal for northern receivers of the Russian RT chain (left) and reconstruction of the dispersion of electron density fluctuations (right) [32]

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7. Fig. 6. Reconstruction of the distribution of electron concentration in the ionosphere in the region of the equatorial anomaly

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8. Fig. 7. Reconstruction of the distribution of electron concentration in the ionosphere above the Sura stand during the period of the HF heating experiments

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9. Fig. 8. Distribution of sTEC over Europe during the geomagnetic storm of October–November 2003 based on GNSS radio sounding data

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10. Fig. 9. Wave disturbances in the ionosphere after the Tohoku earthquake according to GNSS data

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11. Fig. 10. RT reconstruction of the electron concentration distribution in the plasmasphere [30]

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12. Fig. 11. Example of combined RT and RZ reconstruction in the Taiwan area

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13. Fig. 12. An example of comparison of UV tomography and incoherent scatter radar data. Here θ is the phase angle of the satellite orbit, measured from the point of its intersection with the equator on the dayside of the Earth [34]

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14. Fig. 13. Schematic representation of the arrangement of the Ionosfera-M satellites in orbits (a); the relative position of the planes of the satellites’ orbits in local magnetic time (b)

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15. Fig. 14. The Ionosfera-M satellite in the flight configuration with the structural elements and antennas deployed. The long (light) electrodes are the LAERT ionosonde antennas. The flat structure of 4 elements is the solar battery. A rod extends upward from the satellite, on which the electric and magnetic VLF antennas are mounted. The antenna of the MAYAK device is directed downward.

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16. Fig. 15. Observation data of signals from the MAYAK instrument of the Ionosphera-M satellite at the MSU receiving station on 03.II.2025 06:06 UT. Left (top to bottom): signal spectrum for the 400 MHz channel, quadrature components and signal amplitude in the 150 MHz channel. On the right are the trajectories of the subionospheric points of the satellite at the heights of the F- (solid line) and E-layer (dashed line) of the ionosphere.

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17. Fig. 16. Left: relative tilted sTEC according to the data from the Moscow State University receiving station and the Ionosfera-M satellite flyby on 03.II.2025 06:06 UT (blue line) compared to the sTEC data according to the NeQuick2 model (orange line). Right: electron density distribution along the Moscow meridian during this flyby according to the NeQuick2 model (top panel) and the model corrected by observational data (bottom panel)

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