OCO-3: Space-Based Atmospheric CO2 Measurements from the ISS

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) is a single-instrument mission deployed to the International Space Station in May 2019. It uses three high-resolution spectrometers to measure reflected sunlight at specific near-infrared wavelengths, providing data on atmospheric carbon dioxide with the precision needed to characterize its buildup. The dataset includes outputs from the ABO2 algorithm, which uses a fast Bayesian retrieval to estimate surface pressure and albedo for cloud and aerosol screening.

Use Cases

• Tracking regional carbon dioxide sources and sinks based on space-based column measurements.
• Validating and improving atmospheric transport models using precise CO2 concentration data.
• Screening for clouds and aerosols in satellite data using the Oxygen-A Band retrieval algorithm.
• Studying diurnal cycles of carbon exchange, a capability enhanced by the ISS orbit.

Strengths

• Data is from a NASA mission specifically designed for high-precision, space-based CO2 measurement.
• Incorporates a sophisticated cloud-screening algorithm (ABO2) using a fast Bayesian retrieval method.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals established importance and curation.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.
• Dataset descriptions are identical across platforms, suggesting potential duplication rather than complementary views.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the OCO-3 instrument's three spectrometers on the International Space Station.

Time Range

Collection began after deployment in May 2019; specific end date is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to datagov.

Geography

Global coverage from the International Space Station's orbit.