Guide to Data Collection and Location Services using Service Argos. Revision 1.

Abstract

The Argos system locates fixed and mobile platforms and collects environmental data from them. The system was developed under a co-operative programme between the French Space Agency (CNES, France), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, USA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, USA). The purpose is to provide an operational service for the entire duration of the Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) NOAA programme (TIROS-N series), that is, beyond year 2000. As many WMO and IOC Member countries developed data buoy and other observational programmes using the Argos system, information had to be widely available. The 1995 guide recognizes that a number of technical and procedural changes which have taken place since 1988.