MOPITT Beta: Monthly Gridded Carbon Monoxide Satellite Data

Ongoing data collection from the MOPITT instrument launched aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft on December 18, 1999. This dataset contains beta version 109 monthly gridded means of carbon monoxide profiles and total column retrievals derived from near-infrared radiances, including averaging kernels. The data is produced by the Canadian Space Agency and NASA and is subject to recalibration.

Use Cases

• Modeling global tropospheric carbon monoxide transport based on monthly mean-gridded profiles.
• Assessing long-term trends in atmospheric pollution based on a continuous satellite record since 1999.
• Validating air quality simulations based on satellite-derived total column CO retrievals.
• Analyzing the sensitivity of retrievals based on included averaging kernels.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous satellite record of atmospheric carbon monoxide since the instrument launch in 1999.
• Includes averaging kernels with each retrieval, which are essential for proper data interpretation and validation.
• Data collection is ongoing, suggesting potential for temporal extension.

Limitations

• Version 109 products are described as unvalidated beta versions 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) and the Canadian Space Agency.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Ongoing collection since instrument launch in December 1999.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:20:46.161457; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from a sun-synchronous polar orbit.