OCO-3: Satellite Spectrometry for Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

OCO-3 Level 1A data provides depacketized raw spectrometer measurements from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 mission. The dataset contains calibrated engineering data from three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared wavelengths for CO2 and molecular oxygen. This retrospective processing (Version 11r) uses the full timeseries for calibration and is intended as input for Level 1B processing.

Use Cases

• Calibrating atmospheric carbon dioxide retrieval algorithms based on raw spectral data numbers (DN).
• Analyzing instrument performance over time using the full timeseries of calibrated engineering data.
• Studying spectral characteristics in the 0.76, 1.61, and 2.06 micrometer bands for CO2 and O2 absorption.

Strengths

• Represents the current, superseding version (11r) of the dataset, with older versions unavailable.
• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission designed for high-precision, space-based CO2 measurements.
• Uses retrospective processing where calibration is estimated from the full data timeseries, potentially yielding higher quality.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are not provided in any source, limiting detailed assessment.
• The description is highly technical and assumes familiarity with OCO processing levels and spectrometer data.
• One platform lists 'other-license-specified' while another lists 'None', creating a license conflict.

Provenance

Source

NASA OCO-3 mission, processed and hosted by GES DISC.

Collection Method

Space-based measurements from the OCO-3 instrument's three spectrometers on the LEOStar-2 spacecraft, depacketized and formatted into standard granularity.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:32:18.681374

Geography

Global, from satellite orbit.