Analysis of fundamental resolution limit of ionospheric tomography

Tomographic reconstruction of ionospheric distributions, such as electron densities, has generated considerable interest due to the possibility of reconstructing two-dimensional images from existing data. Previous remote sensing methods such as ionosonde, differential Doppler, and Faraday rotation have been capable only of one-dimensional reconstructions. An algorithm based upon the filtered backprojection algorithm of X-ray tomography has been developed that provides such two-dimensional images; however, the nature of the ionospheric system limits its resolving capability. The ionospheric tomography imaging system is compared to the traditional X-ray tomography system to determine its fundamental resolution degradation parameters. These parameters are then isolated in order to examine their individual effects on the reconstructed images.<>