Satellite Measurements Of Tropospheric Carbon Monoxide Concentrations

MOPITT is a satellite instrument aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft that has provided continuous, long-term measurements of tropospheric carbon monoxide concentrations since 1999. The Canadian Space Agency instrument was initially planned for a five-year mission but continues to operate due to sustained data quality and spacecraft health. Its data supports the assessment of pollution control initiatives and the study of human activities like biomass burning.

Use Cases

• Analyze carbon monoxide concentration time-series data to identify long-term pollution trends and seasonal cycles.
• Map geospatial carbon monoxide data to assess the environmental impact of regional human activities like biomass burning.
• Validate and improve atmospheric chemistry models by comparing satellite-derived carbon monoxide profiles with ground-based measurements.
• Correlate pollution events with known industrial or wildfire sources using the instrument's continuous tropospheric scanning data.

Strengths

• Continuous data collection since 1999, exceeding the initial five-year mission plan.
• Data is considered of high quality, as cited for the mission's extension.
• Provides long-term, consistent measurements suitable for trend analysis.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column details, and spatial resolution are unknown from the provided description.
• Data is limited to carbon monoxide concentrations, not a full suite of atmospheric pollutants.
• Relies on remote sensing, which may have limitations compared to in-situ ground measurements.

Provenance

Source

Canadian Space Agency

Collection Method

Collected by the MOPITT instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite via continuous tropospheric scanning.

Time Range

March 1999 to present

Freshness

Data is actively updated, with a platform record last modified in March 2026.

Geography

Global tropospheric coverage