The Advanced Data Collection System (A-DCS), also known as ARGOS, is to provide a worldwide in-situ environmental data collection and Doppler-derived location service with the basic objective of studying and protecting the Earth's environment. The A-DCS is currently jointly operated by NOAA and CNES. However, with the instrument installed on the MetOp series, EUMETSAT will become the third agency to operate the system.
A-DCS collects data from platform transmitters (PTTs) located on land and ocean in UHF frequency. Over 5000 environmental platforms are located around the world. Marine PTTs located on buoys transmit oceanographic data and PTTs on ships transmit weather and oceanographic data. Land-based PTTs provided meteorological and hydrological data and those on balloons provide atmospheric information.
Another important A-DCS application is the tracking of animals using mini- and micro-DCPs (Data Collection Platforms) – this is especially useful in the study of migratory species.
The A-DCS instrument collects and processes data for immediate transmission to the ground and for subsequent transmission from the satellite to high-latitude ground stations at each orbit.
Two global processing and data distribution centres are located in Toulouse, France and Largo, Maryland, USA. They receive and process raw data from EUMETSAT and distribute the processed data to the users.
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