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OCO2_L1B_Calibration·v11.2r·dataset

Instrument calibration spectra for the CO₂ sensor (OCO-2)

OCO-2 Level 1B calibrated, geolocated calibration spectra Retrospective Processing V11.2r (OCO2_L1B_Calibration) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 1B active
In plain English

What it measures. Contains calibration spectra — special measurements the carbon-dioxide instrument takes of the Moon, Sun and dark space to check and tune itself, rather than science observations of Earth.

How it's made. Recorded by the three spectrometers on NASA's OCO-2 satellite during calibration modes, processed to Level 1B with the instrument's pointing direction noted.

How & where you'd use it. An engineering/calibration product used to keep the CO2 measurements accurate; most people benefit from it indirectly through the quality of OCO-2's science data.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS › ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDESPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › INFRARED WAVELENGTHS › INFRARED RADIANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2019-11-30 → ongoing
  • Measured byOCO-2 (OCO-2)
  • Processing levelLevel 1B
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

Version 11.2r is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and are superseded by Version 11.2r. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is the first NASA missiondesigned to collect space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxidewith the precision, resolution, and coverage needed to characterize theprocesses controlling its buildup in the atmosphere. The OCO-2 project uses the LEOStar-2 spacecraft that carries a single instrument. It incorporates three high-resolution spectrometers that make coincident measurements ofreflected sunlight in the near-infrared CO2 near 1.61 and 2.06 micrometers and inmolecular oxygen (O2) A-Band at 0.76 micrometers. The three spectrometers have different characteristics and are calibrated independently. Their raw data numbers (DN) are delivered correlated in time tothe Level 1B process as Level 1A products. Each band has 1016 spectralelements, although some are masked out in the L2 retrieval.This L1B product results from calibration mode measurements (e.g., Lunar,Solar, Dark observations), and thus it differs from the OCO2_L1B_Science(L1bSc) product. The differences in the product formats are only in the geolocation information provided. Whereas the L1bSc products report geolocation data for each sounding, calibration products report the directionof the boresight vector.

Get the data

oco2_l1b_calibration_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="OCO2_L1B_Calibration",
    version="11.2r",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.