OCO-2: Satellite Retrievals of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

OCO-2 Level 2 data provides spatially ordered, geolocated retrievals of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite. The dataset is generated from three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared wavelengths for CO2 and molecular oxygen. Version 11r represents the current retrospective processing standard, superseding all older versions.

Use Cases

• Mapping global and regional carbon dioxide concentrations based on satellite retrievals.
• Analyzing temporal trends in atmospheric CO2 from the time-series geolocated measurements.
• Validating and improving terrestrial and atmospheric carbon cycle models using precision space-based data.
• Studying the processes controlling CO2 buildup in the atmosphere using the instrument's spectral resolution.

Strengths

• Represents a current, standardized retrospective processing version (V11r), superseding prior releases.
• Data is collected by a dedicated NASA mission designed for high precision, resolution, and coverage of atmospheric CO2.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and official curation.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in the available metadata, limiting immediate usability.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between sources (2026-04 09 vs. 2024-04-01), creating uncertainty about freshness.
• Key quantitative metadata (row count, file size) is consistently missing across all platform entries.

Provenance

Source

NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission, processed and distributed by GES DISC.

Collection Method

Space-based measurements from the LEOStar-2 spacecraft carrying three high-resolution spectrometers.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: 2026-04-09 (nasa_earthdata, datagov) and 2024-04-01 (nasa_earthdata).

Geography

Global coverage from satellite observations.