The application of matched filtering to the problem of very low frequency (
VLF) radio signals ducted between magnetically conjugate points on the Eart
h by ionospheric plasma structures has been examined theoretically and impl
emented in recent field experiments. With accurate knowledge of the source
VLF transmission the subionospheric component of the received waveform can
be effectively removed, and the characteristics of the remaining ducted sig
nal can be accurately estimated. Although the technique has been shown not
to produce strictly consistent estimates of the subionospheric and ducted s
ignal amplitudes, it is able to efficiently recover the transit delays and
amplitudes of ducted man-made whistler mode emissions for reasonable values
of the relevant signal-to-noise ratios. This is substantiated by the use o
f matched filtering to analyze data collected by radio receivers placed at
the conjugate ends of a magnetic field line, thereby recovering the amplitu
des and transit delays of ducted signals with time resolution as small as 3
0 s. An arbitrary degree of accuracy can be obtained in these measurements
through the use of bit stream extraction and comparison. Further correlatio
n analysis can be performed to extract Doppler shifts due to drifting ducts
, and the small time resolution makes possible studies of ducting under rap
idly changing conditions.