OCO2_L1B_Calibration: Satellite Spectrometer Calibration Data for CO2 Monitoring

NASA's OCO-2 Level 1B Calibration dataset contains calibrated, geolocated spectra from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite's three high-resolution spectrometers. This product is derived from calibration mode observations (e.g., Lunar, Solar, Dark) and differs from the science product primarily in its geolocation format, reporting boresight direction instead of per-sounding data. The retrospective processing (V10r) uses the full timeseries for calibration estimation, which is expected to yield slightly higher quality data.

Use Cases

• Validating and tuning the calibration models for the OCO-2 spectrometers based on lunar, solar, and dark observations.
• Comparing calibration data geolocation (boresight vector) with science product geolocation (per-sounding) for systematic error analysis.
• Supporting the retrieval of atmospheric carbon dioxide by providing calibrated raw data numbers (DN) for the 1.61 µm, 2.06 µm, and 0.76 µm O2 A-Band spectral channels.
• Assessing the performance and stability of the satellite's three independently calibrated spectrometers over the mission timeline.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission (OCO-2) designed for high-precision atmospheric CO2 measurements.
• Retrospective processing (V10r) uses the full data timeseries for calibration, which is expected to be of slightly higher quality.
• Each spectral band provides 1016 spectral elements, suggesting high spectral resolution.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing or conflicting: column names, row counts, and exact data size are unknown across all sources.
• License information is inconsistently reported as 'other-license-specified' or 'None', requiring user investigation.
• The dataset's geolocation format for calibration products is less granular than the science product, reporting only boresight direction.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

Collection Method

Space-based measurements from the OCO-2 satellite's three high-resolution spectrometers, processed to Level 1B.

Time Range

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Freshness

2026-04-09 23:22:02.675124

Geography

Global, from satellite orbit.