Abstract. Tomographic imaging provides a powerful technique for obtaining images of the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density at polar latitudes. The method, which involves monitoring radio transmissions from the Navy Navigation Satellite System at a meridional chain of ground receivers, has particular potential for complementing temporal measurements by other observing techniques such as the EISCAT incoherent-scatter radar facility. Tomographic reconstructions are presented here from a two-week campaign in November 1995 that show large-scale structuring of the polar ionosphere. Measurements by the EISCAT radar con®rm the authenticity of the technique and provide additional information of the plasma electron and ion temperatures. The dayside trough, persistently observed at high latitudes during a geomagnetically quiet period but migrating to lower latitudes with increasing activity, is discussed in relationship to the pattern of the polarcap convection.

Abstract. The tomographic reconstruction technique generates a two-dimensional latitude versus height electron density distribution from sets of slant total electron content measurements (TEC) along ray paths between beacon satellites and ground-based radio receivers. In this note, the technique is applied to TEC values obtained from data simulated by the Sheeld/ UCL/SEL Coupled Thermosphere/Ionosphere/Model (CTIM). A comparison of the resulting reconstructed image with the`input' modelled data allows for veri®-cation of the reconstruction technique. All the features of the high-latitude ionosphere in the model data are reproduced well in the tomographic image. Reconstructed vertical TEC values follow closely the modelled values, with the F-layer maximum density (NmF2) agreeing generally within about 10%. The method has also been able successfully to reproduce underlying auroral-E ionisation over a restricted latitudinal range in part of the image. The height of the F2 peak is generally in agreement to within about the vertical image resolution (25 km).