A procedure for the automatic scaling of oblique ionograms

In this work we present a method for the identification of trace characteristics of oblique ionograms allowing determination of the Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) for communication between the transmitter and receiver. The algorithm automatically detects and rejects poor quality ionograms. An exploratory test of the algorithm has been performed using data from a campaign of oblique soundings between the ionosondes of Rome, Italy (41.90 N, 12.48 E) and Chania, Greece (35.51 N, 24.01 E) and also between the ones of Kalkarindji, Australia (17.43 S, 130.81 E) and Culgoora, Australia (30.30 S, 149.55 E). The success of these tests demonstrates the applicability of the method to ionograms recorded by different ionosondes in various helio-geophysical conditions.