(Abstract) Argos Data Collection System (DCS) Review

The Argos Data Collection System (DCS) is a satellite-based data collection relay system that collects environmental information for a variety of meteorological, oceanographic, biological and earth science programs. The Argos program is administered under a joint agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the French space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The system consists of in-situ data collection platforms equipped with sensors and transmitters and the Argos instrument currently flying aboard the NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). The Argos instrument has been identified as a notional payload for the National Polar- orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) constellation. The global environmental data sets are collected at telemetry ground stations in Fairbanks, Alaska; Wallops Island, Virginia and pre- processed by the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) in Suitland Maryland. Two CNES subsidiary companies, Collecte Localisation Satellites in Toulouse, France and Service Argos in Largo, Maryland process the data and deliver it to the end user.

Flying the Argos system aboard polar-orbiting satellites provides worldwide coverage for over 60 nations that use the system. Additionally, incorporating the Argos instrument on a moving satellite allows for locating an in-situ platform using Doppler shift calculations. This positioning capability permits applications such as monitoring drifting ocean buoys and studying wildlife migration paths. The Argos instrument will incorporate a down-link message capability on the NOAA-N' satellite which will permit better data throughput and power management for the in-situ collection platforms.

Rob Bassett

1997 - Present	Program Manager; Argos Satellite-Based Data Collection System

Manages all programmatic aspects of the Argos data collection system onboard NOAA's Polar-
orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites with oversight of over 1000 domestic/ international programs collecting environmental data worldwide.

Orchestrates multinational discussions with the space agencies of France, Japan, European Union and Brazil to coordinate, plan and administer satellite-based data collection activities globally.

Participates in international user groups such a s the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel and has facilitated delicate international negotiations to reduce environmental data processing costs for government users.

Coauthored Federal regulations that modernized NOAA's policies and procedures for using U. S. Government space-based data collection assets in concert with the commercial space sector.

MS in Oceanography and Meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

BS in Marine Biology from the University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS