OCO-2 Attitude Data: Spacecraft Pointing Angles for Geolocation

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) Level 0 spacecraft attitude data provides pointing angles for each orbit. This data is generated from APID 20 telemetry and an Orbit Boundary File and is essential for determining the precise geolocation of the mission's science measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The dataset supports the calibration of three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared wavelengths.

Use Cases

• Generating precise geolocations for OCO-2 carbon dioxide concentration measurements based on spacecraft pointing.
• Calibrating and validating atmospheric models using accurately located satellite observation data.
• Analyzing spacecraft orientation and stability over time for mission performance assessment.
• Supporting the reprocessing of OCO-2 science data products when new attitude information is available.

Strengths

• Data is from a flagship NASA mission (OCO-2) designed for high-precision carbon dioxide measurement.
• Dataset is actively maintained, with version 11.2 superseding all older versions as of April 2026.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA Earthdata signals its importance and official status.

Limitations

• Column names and data structure are not specified in any source, hindering immediate usability.
• Conflicting version information exists: one source lists 'Version 11' as current as of April 2024.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific license terms are unavailable.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission.

Collection Method

Generated from spacecraft APID 20 telemetry and an Orbit Boundary File.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to Data.gov entries.

Geography

Global coverage from a sun-synchronous, low-Earth orbiting satellite.