OCO-2 Level 1B: Calibrated Science Spectra for Atmospheric CO2

Version 11.2 contains calibrated radiances from three high-resolution spectrometers, each with 1016 spectral elements, measuring reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared wavelengths. This Level 1B product converts raw instrument data into calibrated radiances and includes geolocation for each measurement. The data supports the characterization of processes controlling atmospheric carbon dioxide buildup from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission.

Use Cases

• Validating atmospheric carbon dioxide retrieval algorithms based on calibrated radiance data.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of CO2 using geolocated spectral measurements.
• Cross-calibrating other satellite instruments using the three independent spectrometer bands.
• Studying solar-induced fluorescence or surface reflectance from the O2 A-Band and CO2 bands.

Strengths

• Provides data from the first NASA mission specifically designed for precise space-based atmospheric CO2 measurements.
• Delivers calibrated radiances from three independent spectrometers, each with 1016 spectral elements.
• Includes geolocation information for each measurement, enabling spatial analysis.

Limitations

• Specific column names, dataset size, and row counts are not provided in the available metadata.
• The license is listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit details.
• Author and organizational attribution beyond 'GES_DISC' is incomplete.

Provenance

Source

NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission, processed by GES DISC.

Collection Method

Space-based measurements from the LEOStar-2 spacecraft carrying three high-resolution spectrometers.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to two platforms.

Geography

Global coverage from satellite observations.