ACT-America: Tower-Based CO2, CO, and CH4 Concentrations, Eastern USA

Atmospheric carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane concentrations measured from a network of instrumented communications towers in the central and eastern United States. The Atmospheric Carbon and Transport-America project collected this data over five years, starting in early 2015, through five intensive field campaigns covering all seasons. Measurements were taken using infrared cavity ring-down spectrometer systems at heights above 100 meters to characterize ground-level carbon background conditions.

Use Cases

• Modeling regional carbon transport based on multi-year, multi-season concentration data.
• Analyzing background greenhouse gas levels based on continuous tower-based measurements.
• Validating airborne measurement campaigns based on coordinated ground-level data collection.
• Studying seasonal variations in atmospheric CO2, CO, and CH4 based on data from all four seasons.

Strengths

• Data spans five years and includes five intensive field campaigns.
• Measurements cover all four seasons and three regions of the central and eastern United States.
• Includes standard deviation and uncertainty metrics derived from flask sample comparisons.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from infrared cavity ring-down spectrometer systems installed on communications towers.

Time Range

Data collection began in early 2015, spanning a five-year mission.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 19:43:20.461441; freshness should be verified

Geography

Central and eastern United States.