OCO2_L1B_Calibration: Calibrated Satellite Spectra for Atmospheric CO2

NASA's OCO-2 Level 1B Calibration dataset contains calibrated, geolocated spectra from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite's three high-resolution spectrometers. The data result from calibration mode measurements, such as Lunar, Solar, and Dark observations, and differ from science products primarily in their geolocation reporting. Each spectral band provides 1016 spectral elements in the near-infrared and molecular oxygen wavelengths for instrument calibration.

Use Cases

• Validating spectrometer performance based on calibration mode measurements (e.g., Lunar, Solar, Dark observations).
• Comparing instrument characteristics using data from three independent, high-resolution spectrometers.
• Analyzing spectral calibration across 1016 elements per band in the near-infrared CO2 and O2 A-Band wavelengths.
• Processing Level 1A raw data numbers (DN) correlated in time for the Level 1B calibration workflow.

Strengths

• Data originates from NASA's first mission designed for space-based atmospheric CO2 measurements, indicating authoritative provenance.
• Provides high spectral resolution with 1016 spectral elements per band across three distinct wavelength regions.
• Dataset is actively maintained, with version 11.2r listed as the current version, superseding older releases.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in the available metadata, limiting immediate usability.
• Conflicting metadata exists: one platform lists an 'other-license-specified' license while another lists 'None'.
• Key quantitative details like row count and dataset size are unknown across all sources.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Collected by the OCO-2 satellite's LEOStar-2 spacecraft carrying three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to datagov platform entries.

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbit.