OCO-2 Lite: Daily Bias-Corrected Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission provides daily, bias-corrected atmospheric carbon dioxide (XCO2) measurements from space. The dataset, processed with a full-physics retrieval algorithm (version 10r), aggregates select fields from the Level 2 product. It is designed to characterize the processes controlling CO2 buildup in the atmosphere with high precision and resolution.

Use Cases

• Tracking regional carbon fluxes based on daily, global XCO2 measurements.
• Validating terrestrial and atmospheric carbon cycle models using satellite-derived CO2 data.
• Analyzing seasonal and interannual variability in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
• Studying the impact of point-source emissions on local atmospheric CO2 levels.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA satellite mission, the first designed for precise space-based CO2 measurements.
• Includes a documented correction for a ~300m pointing error affecting data from January 28 to December 31, 2020.
• Aggregated as daily files, simplifying time-series analysis for global coverage.

Limitations

• Specific column names and dataset size (row count, file size) are not provided in the source metadata.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-04-09 on datagov vs. 2022-03-01 on nasa_earthdata).
• The license is listed as 'other-license-specified' without further details on usage restrictions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from the OCO-2 spacecraft's three high-resolution spectrometers.

Time Range

Retrospective processing covers at least from January 28, 2020 onward, with ongoing updates.

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:21:50.336341

Geography

Global