Developing an empirical density model of the plasmasphere using IMAGE/RPI observations

The radio plasma imager (RPI) on the IMAGE satellite performs radio sounding in the magnetosphere, transmitting coded signals stepping through the frequency range of interest and receiving the returned echoes. The measurements provide the echo amplitude as a function of frequency and echo delay time on a so-called plasmagram. A newly developed algorithm inverts the echo traces on a plasmagram to electron density spatial distributions. Based on these observed density distributions, an empirical model is constructed to describe the two-dimensional density distribution in the inner magnetosphere.