Over 55 trace gases, including CO2, CH4, CO, N2O, H2, and SF6, are measured from weekly air samples collected at more than 50 global and regional background sites. The NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases Group maintains this long-term record, which began in 1967 and continues to the present. Data serves as an international calibration standard and is used to infer emission patterns and evaluate remote sensing technologies.
Use Cases
- Modeling spatial and temporal patterns of CO2 and CH4 emissions using concentration data from over 50 global sampling sites.
- Analyzing long-term trends and seasonal variability in N2O and SF6 levels from weekly flask samples spanning decades.
- Calibrating remote sensing instruments by comparing satellite data with ground-truth measurements of CO2 isotopic ratios and VOC concentrations like ethane and propane.
- Studying air pollution indicators by tracking Carbon Monoxide (CO) levels across global background observatories and tall towers.
Strengths
- Long-term temporal coverage from 1967 to the present, providing over 50 years of data.
- Measures approximately 55 trace gases per air sample, including major greenhouse gases and isotopes.
- Spatially distributed data from 4 baseline observatories, 8 tall towers, and over 50 cooperative sampling sites.
Limitations
- Specific sample size (row count) and measurement frequency per site are not provided in the description.
- Data may have geographic bias towards established NOAA cooperative sites, with potential gaps in underrepresented regions.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases Group.
- Collection Method
- Discrete flask-air samples collected approximately weekly from a global network of sites, including observatories, towers, ships, and aircraft, with analysis conducted at ESRL.
- Time Range
- 1967 to present.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Global, including 4 baseline observatories and over 50 regional background sites.