Radio wave active Doppler imaging of space plasma structures: Arrival angle, wave polarization, and Faraday rotation measurements with the radio plasma imager

Radio sounding in the magnetosphere by the radio plasma imager on the IMAGE spacecraft will determine the dimensions and shape of the cavity between the magnetopause and the plasmapause. Omnidirectional transmission of pulsed radio signals results in echoes arriving from many directions. Quadrature sampling and Doppler analysis of the signals received on three orthogonal antennas will make it possible to determine the angles of arrival of the echoes, their polarization ellipses, and the Faraday rotation. Decomposition of the echo signals into the two characteristic waves is used to identify the O‐ and X‐wave components.