OCO-2: Space-Based Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Retrievals

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission provides the first space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide designed to characterize the processes controlling its buildup. The dataset contains geolocated retrievals from three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared wavelengths for CO2 and molecular oxygen. Version 11.2 is the current and superseding release of this screened data.

Use Cases

• Tracking regional carbon dioxide sources and sinks based on spatially ordered geolocated retrievals.
• Validating and improving global carbon cycle models using high-resolution spectrometer measurements.
• Analyzing long-term trends in atmospheric CO2 concentrations from time-series satellite observations.
• Studying the relationship between atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide using coincident A-band measurements.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission (OCO-2) designed for precise, space-based CO2 measurement.
• Incorporates measurements from three high-resolution spectrometers at specific wavelengths (0.76, 1.61, 2.06 micrometers).
• Is the current version (11.2), superseding all older releases according to multiple platforms.

Limitations

• Column names and detailed schema are not provided in any source, limiting understanding of data structure.
• Exact row count, file size, and temporal coverage are unknown from the provided metadata.
• License is listed as 'other-license-specified' without further details on reuse terms.

Provenance

Source

NASA OCO-2 mission, processed and hosted by GES DISC.

Collection Method

Space-based measurements collected by the LEOStar-2 spacecraft carrying a single instrument with three spectrometers.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:32:50.546508

Geography

Global, from satellite observations.