ARGOS A-DCS | OPPA -- The Office of Projects, Planning, and Analysis

A-DCS instrument on satellite receiving signals from transponders on a bird, a polar bear, a seal, a buoy and several ships. — A-DCS instrument receiving signals from a variety of sources, and transmitting
the information to the ground system for processing.
(Image credit: NOAA. Artist: Katerina Merezhinsky)

NOAA’s Office of Projects, Planning, and Analysis (OPPA) provides for integration, launch, and operation of the Argos Advanced Data Collection System (A-DCS) instrument. The A-DCS instrument is provided under international agreement with the French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES).

Electronic components on a table in a laboratory — A-DCS instrument components including the Receiver and processing unit (RPU),
and the Transmitter unit (TXU). (Image credit: CNES)

OPPA is utilizing the US Air Force Hosted Payload Solution (HoPS) contract to provide a commercial payload hosting solution for the A-DCS instrument. The A-DCS instrument is complete and in storage at CNES.

Instrument being wired together during fabrication — Assembly of instrument on top of a wiring diagram. (Image credit: CNES)

The Argos system provides worldwide coverage with the unique ability to independently locate a data source from anywhere on earth. The Argos-4 A-DCS instrument, part of Argos, collects, processes, and disseminates environmental data from fixed and mobile platforms worldwide. Each month, this system provides key environmental data from more than 21,000 active Argos platforms globally.

Albatross flying over the ocean wearing a GPS transmitter — (Image credit: CNES)

Learn more about ARGOS.

(Image credit: NOAA. Artist: Katerina Merezhinsky)

CAD rendering of Argos-4 satellite. — Argos-4 satellite with solar panels stowed.
(Image credit: Provided by General Atomics)

A-DCS of Argos HoPS