Boston Atmospheric CO2 Observations and Modeled Emissions 2013-2014

NASA's dataset provides hourly atmospheric CO2 measurements from two urban and three boundary sites around Boston, Massachusetts, combined with high-resolution emissions estimates and HYSPLIT model footprints. It covers a 16-month period from September 2013 to December 2014. The data products include observed CO2 concentrations, calculated vertical profiles, and modeled particle trajectory files.

Use Cases

• Validating the ACES anthropogenic carbon emissions inventory against observed atmospheric CO2 enhancements.
• Analyzing urban CO2 transport patterns using HYSPLIT model particle trajectory and footprint files.
• Studying vertical CO2 profiles (50-5000 m) from boundary sites like Harvard Forest, Canaan, and Martha's Vineyard.
• Comparing hourly mean CO2 observations between urban receptor sites Boston University (BU) and Copley Square (COP).
• Assessing the influence of meteorological data from the North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM) on emission estimates.

Strengths

• Integrates continuous, site-specific atmospheric measurements with a sophisticated HYSPLIT transport model ensemble of 1,000 particles.
• Provides a multi-faceted dataset with observed concentrations, modeled boundary values, and trajectory footprints across five distinct measurement sites.
• Covers a 16-month time range (September 2013 - December 2014), offering seasonal and temporal analysis potential.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, column names, and exact file sizes are unspecified across all platforms.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date between Data.gov (2026-03-13) and NASA Earthdata (2014-12-31).
• The license is listed as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov but is 'None' on NASA Earthdata, creating ambiguity.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Combined continuous atmospheric CO2 measurements with the HYSPLIT model and emissions inventories (ACES, urbanVPRM).

Time Range

September 2013 to December 2014

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:26:36.199522

Geography

Boston, Massachusetts, USA, including two urban receptor sites and three surrounding boundary sites.