In this report the problems of resolution and noise sensitivity of tomographic reconstructions from ground-based multistation imaging of aurora with the auroral large imaging system (ALIS) are considered. ALIS is a ground-based grid of high-performance CCD-imaging stations at high latitudes. For evaluation of the resolution and noise sensitivity of current tomographic reconstruction procedures a full model simulation of the ALIS system is presented. The results show that relative errors are typically in the range 0.05--0.1 for typical noise levels in measurements of aurora. A general method to estimate resolution in a tomographic imaging system is developed and used to give estimates of the horizontal and vertical resolution. Its current limitations and future perspective are briefly discussed. A method to retrieve feasible tomographic reconstructions from a few image projections with variable noise level are outlined. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union