Roy Piggott — known to all his colleagues simply as Piggott — was an international leader in ionospheric physics research for over four decades.

His most important contributions to his discipline included pioneering research on the lowest part of the ionosphere (the D-region, 70-90km above the surface of the Earth), rescuing the German ionospheric physics programme from the Russians in the immediate postwar period, establishing the rules by which all routine measurements of the ionosphere have since been made, and the establishment of the ionospheric research programme at Halley Bay, Antarctica.

William Roy Piggott was born in Merton, South London, in 1914, the oldest of five children. He was educated at Royal Liberty School and King’s College London. There he was selected as a personal research assistant to Sir Edward Appleton, the renowned pioneer of ionospheric research, but Piggott’s initial work was with radon.

After an accident with some radon gas, he become too radioactive himself to continue these studies, and thereafter switched to ionospheric physics, moving to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. When war broke out, Piggott began to work at the Radio Research Station in Slough, where he was involved in advising the military on radio communications during the day, while carrying out ionospheric research at night and during weekends. He demonstrated many design skills as an electronics engineer, but never a neat and tidy man himself, left the building of the operational versions to others.

At the end of the war Piggott was concerned that the German ionospheric research group and its equipment would fall into the hands of the Russians. He commandeered a convoy of lorries, making the journey from Vienna to Lindau, Germany, in the manner of a James Bond novel, and in the process becoming a master of black-market subterfuge. The institute formed as a result became the world-famous Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, recently renamed the Max-PlanckInstitut für Sonnensystemforschung. In 1953 Piggott was appointed OBE for his wartime services.

Throughout the 1950s he published many definitive studies on the ionosphere, but is probably best remembered for writing, with Karl Rawer, the definitive handbook on how to operate and analyse data from the multi-frequency radar systems, ionosondes, used to investigate the ionosphere.

These rules have been applied without change for the past half-century, and have allowed others to demonstrate, among many other things, long-term changes in the ionosphere resulting from increased CO2 in the atmosphere.

Piggott spent much time travelling the world, giving lectures and one-to-one tutorials. Although the intensity and exhausting length of such discussions spawned the expression “to be Piggotted”, there is no doubt that his enthusiasm, encyclopaedic knowledge and immense energy inspired generations of ionospheric physicists around the world.

Piggott recognised the outstanding opportunity offered by the polar regions for learning more about how the ionosphere worked, and in particular, the insights that could be gleaned from observations made from the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica, which enjoys a unique combination of high geographic latitude with a remarkably low and weak magnetic field. He was the prime mover in establishing the ionospheric research programmes that were an important component of the Royal Society’s expedition to Halley Bay, one of Britain’s contributions to the International Geophysical year (1957-58). Piggott provided leadership for the UK’s Antarctic ionospheric research programme for the next two decades, latterly as head of atmospheric science at the British Antarctic Survey from 1973 until his retirement in 1979.

Piggott was unfailingly courteous, patient, kind and generous, both professionally and personally. He was passionate about science, unselfish, inspirational, and full of ideas. He was a superb mentor, though frequently disconcerting his audience as he would absent-mindedly nibble elastic bands and other detritus recovered from his desk or jacket pocket, without interruption to the flow of science ideas. He was influential and universally highly respected by his colleagues in Britain and beyond. Everyone whose lives was touched by Piggott has their own story about this lovable, archetypal British eccentric, who will live on through his humanity and his legacies to ionospheric physics.

In his retirement, Piggott took up Chinese brush painting, trying to capture the essence of Antarctica in this challenging medium. He nursed his wife Allison with the greatest devotion during her final illness towards the end of their 57 years of marriage.

Piggott is survived by his two daughters.

W. Roy Piggot, OBE, head of atmospheric science, British Antarctic Survey, 197-79, was born on 18 July 18, 1914. He died on May 20, 2008, aged 93