AIRS on AQUA: Monthly Tropospheric Carbon Dioxide Measurements

Monthly carbon dioxide concentration data collected by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, launched in 2002. The data is part of NASA's Earth Observing System and is hosted on the Data.gov platform. The dataset was last updated on March 5, 2026.

Use Cases

• Tracking global and regional trends in atmospheric CO2 concentrations based on satellite observations.
• Validating and improving climate models using long-term, space-based greenhouse gas data.
• Studying the seasonal and interannual variability of a key greenhouse gas in the troposphere.
• Correlating CO2 levels with natural processes and human activities mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Data originates from NASA, a leading space agency, suggesting authoritative collection methods.
• Provides a long-term record from an instrument launched in 2002, enabling trend analysis.
• Last updated on March 5, 2026, indicating recent maintenance.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and spatial resolution are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided in HTML format, which is atypical for scientific analysis and may require extraction.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the Aqua spacecraft.

Time Range

Likely spans from 2002 (AIRS launch) to near-present.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-05 19:53:06.556494

Geography

Global coverage from satellite observations.