Imaging the Plasmasphere and Topside Ionosphere during Geomagnetic Storms based on a Tomographic Algorithm

In this study, TEC measurements from METOP (Meteorological Operational) satellites are used together with a tomographic algorithm to estimate electron density distributions during geomagnetic storm events. The proposed method is applied during four geomagnetic storms to check the tomographic capabilities for space weather monitoring. The developed method was capable to successfully capture and reconstruct well-known enhancement and decrease of electron density during the geomagnetic storms. The comparison with in-situ electron densities from DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) satellites has shown an improvement around 11% and a better plasma description compared to the background. Our study also reveals that the plasmasphere TEC contribution to ground-based TEC may vary 10 to 60% during geomagnetic storms, and the contribution tends to reduce during the storm-recovery phase.