Application of collected data
Presentations at the DBCP Technical Workshop
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 17-18 October 2005

Theme 3: Vision and Possibilities / Technological Developments

15. ARGOS 3 – The Next Generation

Authors: Bill Woodward (Service Argos), Christian Ortega – (CLS)

Abstract: The French-U.S. Argos system has been reliably satisfying the real-time data collection demands of the global oceanographic and meteorological communities for nearly three decades. By pacing the science and operational requirements of the ocean and meteorological community the satellite-based Argos data collection and location system enables fixed weather stations and moored and drifting buoys and floats to continue to provide valuable research and operational data supporting the description, understanding and prediction needs of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. In early 2006 the third generation Argos system will become available. Scheduled for launch on the EUMETSAT METOP 1 satellite in April this new generation of Argos will provide a number of significantly improved features and capabilities to the community, including, among other things, an order of magnitude higher data rate and two-way communications. This presentation will outline these new capabilities, describe how they can be applied using the Argo float program as a case study, present the launch schedule for satellites that will carry the new Argos 3 systems and provide some insight into what is being considered for the next generation of capabilities – Argos 4.