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Full catalog/OCO2_L2_Diagnostic
OCO2_L2_Diagnostic·v11r·dataset

Carbon dioxide readings plus diagnostics (OCO-2)

OCO-2 Level 2 geolocated XCO2 retrieval results and algorithm diagnostic information, Retrospective Processing V11r (OCO2_L2_Diagnostic) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. Carbon dioxide readings in the air column over each spot, bundled with a wide range of behind-the-scenes diagnostic details (haze amount, surface brightness, light absorption, uncertainties, and more) that explain how each reading was made.

How it's made. Comes from NASA's OCO-2 satellite, whose three spectrometers measure reflected near-infrared sunlight; this retrospective version reprocesses the full data record for slightly higher quality.

How & where you'd use it. Mainly a diagnostic and quality-checking companion for scientists working with OCO-2 carbon dioxide data, rather than a simple map of CO2 for general use.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › CARBON AND HYDROCARBON COMPOUNDS › ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2014-09-01 → 2024-04-01
  • Measured byOCO-2 (OCO-2)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusCOMPLETE

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 11r is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and are superseded by Version 11r. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is the first NASA mission designed to collect space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide with the precision, resolution, and coverage needed to characterize the processes 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 of reflected sunlight in the near-infrared CO2 near 1.61 and 2.06 micrometers and in molecular oxygen (O2) A-Band at 0.76 micrometers. This collection encompass various data fields used for diagnostic and pre-processing, including aerosol optical depth, albedo, absorption coefficients, fluorescence, XCO2 uncertainties, averaging kernel, surface type, etc. This is the retrospective processing where the calibration data is estimated from the full timeseries of data (before, during, and after the measurements), and is expected to be of slightly higher quality.

Get the data

oco2_l2_diagnostic_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="OCO2_L2_Diagnostic",
    version="11r",
    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.