MOPITT V9: Satellite-Derived Carbon Monoxide Profiles

MOPITT, launched aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft in 1999, provides long-term global monitoring of tropospheric carbon monoxide using near-infrared radiances. This version 9 dataset includes geo-located CO profiles, total column amounts, and ancillary surface and cloud data, each accompanied by an estimated retrieval error. Data collection for this product is ongoing, offering a continuous record for atmospheric research.

Use Cases

• Tracking global pollution transport patterns based on geo-located CO profiles.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models using retrieved total column CO amounts.
• Studying surface and cloud interactions with atmospheric composition using ancillary data.
• Analyzing long-term trends in tropospheric pollution from the ongoing time series.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous, long-term record from an instrument launched in 1999, with data collection ongoing.
• Includes estimated error for each retrieval, supporting uncertainty-aware analysis.
• Contains ancillary data on surface properties and cloud conditions at retrieval locations.

Limitations

• Specific column names and data volume (row count, size) are not provided in any source.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2026-04-09 vs 2025-02-01), creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Terra spacecraft, MOPITT instrument, funded by the Canadian Space Agency.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing using near-infrared radiances.

Time Range

Data collection began after the December 18, 1999 launch and is ongoing.

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: 2026-04-09 and 2025-02-01.

Geography

Global coverage from a sun-synchronous polar orbit.