The Potential for a Networked Ionospheric Sounding Constellation

Abstract

A novel networked sounding constellation mission concept is proposed. Radio sounding is the original sensing method that proved the existence of the ionosphere. Satellite‐borne sounders provided the first global observations of the terrestrial ionosphere and plasmasphere, as well as the Martian ionosphere. Networked sounding, where signals are transmitted and received across multiple instruments, has been used on the ground since the first days of ionospheric observation. This paper proposes networked sounding from space, to produce measurements of the F‐layer peak, enhanced E‐layers, regions of turbulent structuring, the topside scale height (or transition height) and potentially the plasmapause. The principal advantage of sounding over other methods is direct measurement of the peak density, where a networked implementation greatly increases spatial data coverage because it provides multiple unique signal paths through the ionosphere at different frequencies. Major advances in satellite software‐defined radio, deployable antennas, signal processing and data analysis have been made in recent years, such that a networked sounding constellation could be built at realistic cost—either as a hosted payload on commercial buses or on dedicated CubeSats.

STP Mission Concept: A Remote-sensing Ionospheric Network in Geospace

“…Topside sounding is the most well-established satellite ionospheric observing technique, dating back to Alouette 1 (Thomas, 1963). Networked topside sounding is a logical extension of previous ground-and space-based sounding experiments, and is described in Chartier (2022). These data form the backbone of climatological knowledge of the ionosphere, encapsulated in the IRI model.…”

“…The networked ionospheric topside sounding technique (shown in Figure 1) is novel and needed further explanation than was possible in the proposal. The technique is now published and described in detail in Chartier (2022), including the homing raytracing code to produce synthetic observations. The reviewers also raised good questions about how the neutral atmospheric parameters could be resolved.…”