Advances in magnetospheric radio wave analysis and tomography Original Research Article

Initial theoretical studies of multi-spacecraft radio tomographic imaging of the magnetosphere have shown the potential scientific value of the technique. We report a series of multistatic radio propagation experiments with the goal of testing and verifying the capabilities of radio tomography. These experiments focused specifically on measuring the plasma-induced rotation of the wave polarization (Faraday rotation), from which the path integrated product of magnetospheric electron density and magnetic field can be directly inferred. These experiments used the Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) on the IMAGE satellite as the transmitter. The receiving instruments were the WAVES instrument on WIND and the WBD instrument on CLUSTER. These experiments showed that Faraday rotation can be measured on relatively long (>10 RE) magnetospheric propagation paths with existing transmitter and receiver technology. We conclude that radio tomographic imaging of magnetospheric electron density and magnetic field is a powerful technique with unique, large-scale measurement capabilities that can effectively address important questions in magnetospheric physics.