Annual U.S. On-Road CO2 Emissions at 1-Kilometer Resolution

DARTE V2 provides a 38-year, high-resolution inventory of annual carbon dioxide emissions from road vehicles across the contiguous United States. The dataset models emissions from 1980 to 2017 using roadway-level traffic data and state-specific factors for multiple vehicle types. NASA compiled this continuous 1-km grid surface from the Database of Road Transportation Emissions.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in transportation sector CO2 emissions from 1980 to 2017.
• Mapping the spatial distribution of on-road emissions at a 1-kilometer resolution across urban and rural areas.
• Comparing state-specific emission factors for different vehicle types (e.g., cars, trucks).
• Integrating high-resolution emission data with atmospheric models or land use studies.
• Assessing the impact of vehicle fleet changes and traffic patterns on annual carbon output.

Strengths

• Covers a 38-year temporal range (1980-2017), enabling long-term trend analysis.
• Provides high spatial detail with continuous emissions data at a 1-kilometer resolution.
• Based on roadway-level vehicle traffic data and state-specific emissions factors for multiple vehicle types.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals established importance and curation.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and total dataset size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: Data.gov lists March 2026, while NASA EarthData lists December 2017.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Modeled from the Database of Road Transportation Emissions (DARTE) using roadway-level vehicle traffic data and state-specific emissions factors.

Time Range

1980-2017

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:23:11.569364

Geography

Conterminous United States