Fossil Fuel CO₂ Emissions: Hourly Gridded Data for OCO2 MIP

Fossil fuel CO₂ emission fluxes are provided on an hourly, gridded basis for atmospheric CO₂ modeling, specifically for the OCO2 Model Intercomparison Project. The dataset synthesizes monthly ODIAC inventory data with daily Carbon Monitor observations, using scaling factors to extend emissions from 2000 through at least 2025. It includes derived hourly global totals for verification and incorporates Carbon Monitor source data as NetCDF files for recent years.

Use Cases

• Initializing and validating atmospheric transport models based on hourly, gridded fossil fuel emissions.
• Studying diurnal and weekly cycles of CO₂ emissions using the TIMES-derived hourly disaggregation factors.
• Analyzing recent emission trends (post-2023) by comparing scaled ODIAC data with included Carbon Monitor source files.
• Investigating regional emission patterns for years 2000-2023 using the underlying ODIAC inventory methodology.

Strengths

• Provides long-term, consistent coverage from 2000 through at least 2025, with one source indicating updates through February 2026.
• Offers high temporal resolution (hourly) derived from monthly data using published TIMES emission factors for diurnal and weekly cycles.
• Integrates two established data sources (ODIAC and Carbon Monitor) to combine spatial detail with recent temporal trends.

Limitations

• Sectoral decomposition is limited; scaling for extended years (e.g., 2024+) applies a total change factor uniformly across all sectors rather than scaling power, transport, etc., separately.
• Aviation emissions handling involves approximation, as Carbon Monitor's country-level data is aggregated to a single monthly global value to scale ODIAC's gridded bunker fuel.
• Metadata completeness is low; specific row counts, column names, file sizes, and exact last update dates are not provided across the sources.

Provenance

Source

Primary data from ODIAC fossil fuel emission inventory and Carbon Monitor near-real-time emissions.

Collection Method

ODIAC monthly emissions are disaggregated to hourly using TIMES factors. Emissions for years beyond the ODIAC base year are scaled using monthly ratios derived from Carbon Monitor data.

Time Range

2000 to at least 2025 (with one source mentioning updates through February 2026).

Freshness

One source indicates the dataset was updated through February 2026, but a specific 'last updated' date is not provided.

Geography

Global, gridded.