TROPESS CrIS-SNPP: Carbon Monoxide Vertical Profiles During 2020 West Coast Fires

14 vertical levels of carbon monoxide concentration data are provided for the CONUS region from August to October 2020, capturing the atmospheric impact of major wildfires. This dataset contains satellite retrievals from the CrIS instrument on Suomi-NPP, processed using the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm by NASA's TROPESS project. Each daily netCDF4 file offers a 14 km spatial resolution snapshot of CO distribution and formal uncertainties from the surface to 0.1 hPa.

Use Cases

• Tracking wildfire pollution plumes based on daily carbon monoxide vertical profiles.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models using the 14-level CO concentration and formal uncertainty data.
• Analyzing the spatial extent of fire emissions across the CONUS region using the 14 km resolution geospatial data.
• Studying seasonal pollution dynamics during a major fire outbreak using the three-month time series.

Strengths

• Provides specific vertical resolution with data reported at 14 levels from the surface to 0.1 hPa.
• Captures a defined, significant event with data focused on the 2020 U.S. West Coast wildfire period.
• Data is from a recognized NASA project (TROPESS) with a named principal investigator, Kevin W. Bowman.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are unspecified across all platforms.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026 vs. 2020) create uncertainty about dataset maintenance and versioning.
• Limited temporal scope to a single three-month period, restricting analysis of long-term trends.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) TROPESS project

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the CrIS instrument on the Suomi-NPP platform, processed with the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm.

Time Range

2020-08-01 to 2020-10-31

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:22:25.263077

Geography

CONUS region (20N-60N; 150W-40W)