Ionogram inversion for MARSIS topside sounding

Abstract

In the present paper, we propose a method of ionogram inversion to retrieve the electron density profile, Ne(h), of the Martian ionosphere from the topside ionogram, which is measured by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) instrument on board the Mars Express spacecraft. The new inversion technique is developed from Titheridge’s method by replacing the prior polynomials with empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs), which are estimated from the archived Ne(h) observation by the radio occultation of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). The EOF-based technique has achieved quick convergence and good stability. It is concluded that the newly developed method is an alternative tool for the analysis of MARSIS ionograms.