NACP MCI: Top-Down CO2 Flux Estimates for the U.S. Upper Midwest, 2007

Upper Midwest U.S. Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) flux estimates for 2007 are provided at 0.5-degree resolution. The data were produced by two atmospheric CO2 inversion systems from Colorado State University and Pennsylvania State University, supporting the North American Carbon Program's Mid-Continent Intensive campaign. This top-down modeling output is intended for comparison with bottom-up carbon inventory methods.

Use Cases

• Comparing top-down atmospheric inversion results with bottom-up inventory estimates of carbon flux.
• Validating regional CO2 flux models over a flat, heavily managed agricultural landscape.
• Analyzing the impact of boundary CO2 inflow conditions on inversion system outputs.
• Assessing the performance of continental-scale versus mesoscale inversion modeling approaches.

Strengths

• Contains outputs from two distinct atmospheric CO2 inversion systems (CSU and PSU), enabling comparative analysis.
• Focuses on a region with a high density of atmospheric CO2 observations from a tall tower network, likely improving model constraints.
• Produced for a defined experimental campaign (NACP MCI) with a clear scientific objective to evaluate inversion methods.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided across platforms.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between sources (2007-12-31 vs. 2026-04-10), creating uncertainty about data currency.
• Spatial and temporal coverage is limited to the U.S. Upper Midwest and the single year 2007.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Modeled output from two atmospheric CO2 inversion systems, utilizing observations from a network of instrumented tall towers.

Time Range

2007

Freshness

2026-04-10 00:34:58.219448

Geography

U.S. Upper Midwest at 0.5-degree resolution