Scientists at Kyoto University have pioneered a new method to map Earth’s upper atmosphere, a region notoriously difficult to observe. They used publicly available orbital data from approximately 1,200 Starlink satellites. By examining how atmospheric drag gradually decayed the satellites’ orbits, the researchers estimated thermospheric density at an altitude of about 482 kilometers. Applying tomography — a technique commonly used in medical imaging — they constructed a two-dimensional latitude-longitude snapshot of density patterns. This is the first tomographic analysis of its kind. The results aligned with measurements from the European Space Agency’s SWARM satellites. The breakthrough could improve satellite tracking, reduce collision risks in increasingly crowded orbits, and aid in forecasting space weather.
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