Spatial Resolution of Equatorial Plasma Depletions Using Variable-Range Time-Delay Integration

Equatorial spread-F, also termed plasma bubbles, is a phenomenon that occurs in the equatorial region of Earth’s ionosphere, the charged region of Earth’s atmosphere. Plumes of less dense plasma, the charged material of the Ionosphere, rise through regions of higher density plasma. This causes disturbances to radio signals that travel through this region, which can lead to GPS range errors or loss of signal. ICON is a NASA Explorer mission aimed at, in part, understanding the sources of variability in the ionosphere. One instrument onboard ICON to accomplish this goal is the Far-Ultraviolet Imager which images airglow in the far-ultraviolet range.