OCO-2 SIF Lite: Daily Solar-Induced Fluorescence and Atmospheric Data

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite provides global, space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. This dataset contains bias-corrected solar-induced fluorescence and other select fields from the IMAP-DOAS preprocessor, aggregated into daily files. The data is used to characterize processes controlling carbon buildup in the atmosphere and to study vegetation health.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global photosynthetic activity based on bias-corrected solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence.
• Characterizing sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide using coincident spectrometer measurements.
• Screening the official OCO-2 XCO2 product using outputs from the IMAP-DOAS preprocessor.
• Studying the impact of geolocation errors, such as the ~300 m pointing error corrected in 2021, on derived climate variables.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission (OCO-2) designed for high-precision atmospheric CO2 measurements.
• Contains bias-corrected solar-induced fluorescence, a key variable for vegetation studies.
• A known geolocation error affecting data from January 28 to December 31, 2020, was identified and corrected by June 2021.

Limitations

• Column names and detailed schema are not provided in the available metadata.
• Conflicting metadata exists for license, author, and last updated date across platforms.
• The dataset's exact temporal and spatial resolution is not explicitly stated.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via three high-resolution spectrometers on the OCO-2 spacecraft, processed through the operational IMAP-DOAS preprocessor pipeline.

Time Range

Data includes a corrected period from January 28, 2020, to December 31, 2020; full operational range is not specified.

Freshness

2026-04-09 (from datagov, though this appears to be a future date which may be an error)

Geography

Global coverage from satellite observations.