MOPITT Beta CO: Daily Gridded Carbon Monoxide from Satellite Radiances

Data collection for this product is ongoing. The dataset contains daily mean gridded carbon monoxide (CO) profile and total column retrievals derived from near and thermal infrared radiances measured by the MOPITT instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite. It is an unvalidated beta product subject to recalibration, produced by NASA with instrument funding from the Canadian Space Agency.

Use Cases

• Modeling global tropospheric carbon monoxide transport based on daily gridded means.
• Validating satellite-based air quality measurements based on the included averaging kernels.
• Analyzing long-term trends in atmospheric pollution based on data collected since the 1999 launch.
• Assimilating carbon monoxide observations into climate models based on the profile and total column retrievals.

Strengths

• Includes averaging kernels for each retrieval, which are essential for proper validation and use.
• Data collection is ongoing, providing a continuous temporal record since the instrument's 1999 launch.
• Product is backed by a formal Data Quality Statement detailing retrieval quality and limitations.

Limitations

• Product is labeled as an unvalidated beta version subject to recalibration.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with instrument construction funded by the Canadian Space Agency.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the MOPITT instrument aboard the Terra spacecraft.

Time Range

Data collection ongoing since the Terra launch on December 18, -1999.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:20:50.968993; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from a sun-synchronous polar orbit.