OCO-3: Daily Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Measurements from the International Space Station

Retrospective processing V11r provides daily aggregated data from the OCO-3 instrument deployed to the International Space Station in May 2019. The dataset contains bias-corrected XCO2 and other fields from a full-physics retrieval, derived from three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared and oxygen A-band wavelengths. These measurements are designed to characterize the processes controlling atmospheric carbon dioxide buildup.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global carbon dioxide sources and sinks based on space-based XCO2 measurements.
• Cloud and aerosol screening in atmospheric studies using the Oxygen-A Band algorithm.
• Validating climate and carbon cycle models with bias-corrected, daily aggregated satellite data.
• Estimating surface pressure and albedo using the fast Bayesian retrieval from O2 A-band spectra.

Strengths

• Data is from a dedicated NASA mission (OCO-3) designed for precise, space-based CO2 measurements.
• Incorporates a sophisticated cloud-screening algorithm (Oxygen-A Band) based on a Bayesian retrieval model.
• Represents the current, authoritative version (V11r), with older versions superseded.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, specific columns, and data size are not provided in any source.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.
• Descriptions are duplicated across platforms, indicating potential redundancy in available information.

Provenance

Source

NASA GES DISC, from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) instrument on the International Space Station.

Collection Method

Satellite-based remote sensing using three high-resolution spectrometers measuring reflected sunlight.

Time Range

From May 2019 onward (instrument deployment date).

Freshness

2026-04-10 19:56:23.984229

Geography

Global, from the orbital path of the International Space Station.