Multisatellite missions like the recently launched Cluster II spacecraft provide for the first time the possibility to instantaneously obtain spatially distributed measurements of field-aligned currents (FAC). We present the FAC-based method of characteristics that combines such measurements mapped to the ionosphere with two-dimensional data of the ionospheric electric field, as it can be obtained from coherent scatter radars, to calculate distributions of ionospheric conductances and actual (not equivalent) currents, given an estimate of the Hall to Pedersen conductance ratio. The applicability of the method is demonstrated for a passage of the Cluster II spacecraft over the MIRACLE network of ground-based instruments in northern Fennoscandia on 1 February 2001, using preliminary but realistic orbit parameters. The geophysical situation of ionospheric electrodynamic parameters that we model during this passage refers to a real event of a plasma vortex propagating eastwards over the MIRACLE field of view, as studied by Kosch et al. <2000>. The application of the method of characteristics on the simulated radar and satellite measurements calculated from this model shows that the modeled Hall and Pedersen conductances, as well as the ionospheric currents, can be reconstructed by the method to good accuracy.