OCO-2: Bias-Corrected Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from Satellite

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission provides global, space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The dataset contains bias-corrected column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CO2 (XCO2) and other select fields, aggregated as daily files from a full-physics retrieval. It is designed to characterize the processes controlling CO2 buildup in the atmosphere with high precision and resolution.

Use Cases

• Quantifying regional carbon fluxes based on bias-corrected XCO2 measurements.
• Validating and improving global carbon cycle models using satellite-derived atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
• Analyzing temporal trends in atmospheric CO2 from daily aggregated data.
• Studying the relationship between CO2 and other atmospheric parameters from coincident spectrometer measurements.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission (OCO-2) designed for high-precision, space-based CO2 measurement.
• Provides bias-corrected XCO2, a key derived product for atmospheric research.
• Cross-platform presence (NASA Earthdata and Data.gov) signals its importance and official status.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data schema are not provided in any source description.
• Exact data volume (size, row count) is unknown across all platforms.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further detail.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES_DISC).

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from the OCO 2 spacecraft, which uses three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared and oxygen A-Band wavelengths.

Time Range

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Freshness

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

Geography

Global coverage from satellite observations.