The research and development of a fully automated daily short-term ionospheric forecasting service

A fully automated system producing short-term ionospheric forecasts has been developed at GEC-Marconi Research Centre (MRC). The computer algorithms use geophysical and radiowave propagation data available in the European sector. MRC produce a daily forecast of ionospheric and HF radiowave propagation conditions which is distributed to HF users. Customers receive the service via telex or facsimile or via a bulletin board facility. The bulletin board, accessible using a PC and modem connected to a telephone line, has over 40 pages of solar, magnetic and ionospheric data in addition to the daily forecast. A weekday forecast message is recorded onto an answerphone to enable users to dial-up the latest forecasts. The authors present the user requirements, information used by MRC in the forecast computation, details of the forecast message and its methods of distribution. The future objectives of the service are also described