OCO-2: Meteorological Parameters for Atmospheric Carbon Soundings

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission provides Level 2 data of meteorological parameters interpolated from a global assimilation model for each satellite sounding. The dataset supports the analysis of atmospheric carbon dioxide by offering coincident, high-resolution spectrometer measurements in specific near-infrared and oxygen A-Band wavelengths. This retrospective processing version (V11r) supersedes all older data versions.

Use Cases

• Characterizing carbon dioxide source and sink processes based on coincident spectrometer measurements.
• Validating or constraining global atmospheric models using interpolated meteorological parameters for each sounding.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal trends in atmospheric CO2 concentrations from space-based observations.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission (OCO-2) designed for high-precision, space-based CO2 measurements.
• The dataset represents the current, authoritative version (V11r), which supersedes all older processing versions.
• Measurements are from three high-resolution spectrometers, suggesting detailed spectral data.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing or conflicting: column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are unknown across all sources.
• License information is inconsistently reported ('other-license-specified' vs. 'None'), requiring user verification.
• The 'last updated' dates conflict between sources (2026-04 09 vs. 2024-04-01), casting doubt on metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Data collected by the OCO-2 satellite's LEOStar-2 spacecraft, which carries a single instrument with three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight.

Time Range

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Freshness

2026-04-09 23:33:02.356139

Geography

Global coverage from satellite soundings.