In this paper, an IRI model assisted GPS-based Computerized Ionospheric Tomography (CIT) technique is developed to inverse the ionospheric electron density (IED) distribution over China. Essentially, an improved algebraic reconstruction technique (IART) is first proposed to reconstruct the ionospheric images with high resolution and high efficiency. A numerical experiment is used to validate the reliability of the method and its advantages to the classical algebraic reconstruction technique (ART). This is then used to reconstruct the IED images using the GPS data in China. The variations of the IED during magnetically quiet and disturbed days are reported and analyzed here. Reconstructed results during magnetically quiet days show some prominent ionospheric features such as the development of equatorial anomaly and the tilt of ionization crest. Meanwhile, ionospheric storm phase effects and disturbed features can also be revealed from the reconstructed IED image under storm conditions. Research shows that the positive storm phase effects usually happen in southern China, and the negative storm phase effects mainly occur in northern China. The equatorial anomaly crest moved to the north in the main phase of the storm. Ionosonde data recorded at Wuhan station provides the verification for the reliability of GPS-based CIT technique.

For the limitation of the conventional multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique (MART), a constrained MART (CMART) is proposed in this paper. In the new tomographic algorithm, a popular two-dimensional multi-point finite difference approximation of the second order Laplacian operator is used to smooth the electron density field. The feasibility and superiority of the new method are demonstrated by using the numerical simulation experiment. Finally, the CMART is used to reconstruct the regional electron density field by using the actual GNSS data under geomagnetic quiet and disturbed days. The available ionosonde data from Beijing station further validates the superiority of the new method.

In this paper, a constrained adaptive simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (CASART) is presented to obtain high-quality reconstructions from insufficient projections. According to the continuous smoothness of the variations of ionospheric electron density (IED) among neighbouring voxels, Gauss weighted function is introduced to constrain the tomography system in the new method. It can resolve the dependence on the initial values for those voxels without any GPS rays traversing them. Numerical simulation scheme is devised to validate the feasibility of the new algorithm. Some comparisons are made to demonstrate the superiority of the new method. Finally, the actual GPS observations are applied to further validate the feasibility and superiority of the new algorithm.