Argos (satellite system)

Argos is a global satellite-based system that collects, processes, and disseminates (spreads, distributes) environmental data from fixed and mobile platforms around the world.

In addition to satellite data collection, the main feature of the Argos system is its to ability to geographically locate the data source from any location on Earth using the Doppler effect;[2] which refers to the apparent change in the wavelength due to relative motion between its source and observer.

Argos is operated by CLS/Argos, based in Toulouse, France, and its United States subsidiary, CLS America.

Since the late 1980s, Argos transmitters have been deployed on a large number of marine mammals and sea turtles, and it is used for tracking long-distance movements of both coastal and oceanic species.

Each Argos platform features a unique 28-bit ID and the ability to transmit a short 3 to 31 byte message for each transmission.

However, due to ground-based alarm system interference issues in the United States,[8] the downlink was disabled on the NOAA-19 satellite.

The Argos System is served by 9 polar orbiting satellites at an altitude of 850 km and completes a revolution around Earth approximately every 100 minutes.