OCO-2: Satellite-Based Atmospheric CO2 and Meteorological Sounding Data

OCO-2 Level 2 data provides meteorological parameters interpolated from a global assimilation model for each satellite sounding. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission is NASA's first designed for space-based atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements with high precision and resolution. The dataset supports analysis of processes controlling CO2 buildup in the atmosphere.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global carbon dioxide fluxes and atmospheric transport based on coincident spectrometer measurements.
• Validating and improving global carbon cycle models using satellite-derived CO2 and meteorological data.
• Studying seasonal and regional variations in atmospheric CO2 concentrations from space-based observations.
• Assimilating near-infrared CO2 and O2 A-Band measurements into atmospheric chemistry and weather models.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission (OCO-2) designed for high-precision, space-based CO2 measurement.
• Represents a current, maintained version (V11.2r), with older versions superseded.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals its importance and official status.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing or conflicting: row counts, column names, and exact data size are unknown across all sources.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without providing the specific terms.
• Descriptions are identical and sparse, offering no detail on data structure, quality flags, or uncertainty metrics.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

Collection Method

Measurements from the OCO-2 satellite's three high-resolution spectrometers, with meteorological parameters interpolated from a global assimilation model.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:33:07.041601

Geography

Global