Rotational tomography for 3D reconstruction of the white-light and EUV corona in the post-SOHO era

Improving our understanding of the mechanisms that energize the solar wind and heat structures in the solar corona requires the development of empirical methods that can determine the three-dimensional (3D) temperature and density distributions with as much spatial and temporal resolution as possible. This paper reviews the solar rotational tomography (SRT) methods that will be used for 3D reconstruction of the solar corona from data obtained by the next generation of space-based missions such as the Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), Solar-B and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). In the next decade, SRT will undergo rapid advancement on several frontiers of 3D image reconstruction: 1. Electron density reconstruction from white-light coronagraph images. 2. Differential emission measure (DEM) reconstruction from EUV images. 3. Dual-spacecraft (STEREO) observing geometry. 4. Fusion of data from multiple spacecraft with differing instrumentation. 5. Time-dependent estimation methods. Although the principles described apply to many different wavelength regimes, this paper concentrates on white-light and EUV data. Previous work on all of these subjects is reviewed, and major technical issues and future directions are discussed.