Weather conditions paired with each CO2 reading (OCO-2)
What it measures. Provides the weather and atmospheric conditions that go with each of OCO-2's carbon dioxide measurements, such as temperature and pressure, matched to every individual sounding.
How it's made. Drawn from a global weather model and interpolated to the exact time and place of each OCO-2 reading; the satellite itself carries spectrometers that sense reflected sunlight.
How & where you'd use it. A companion product that scientists pair with OCO-2's CO2 retrievals so they can correctly interpret and correct the carbon dioxide measurements.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2014-06-01 → ongoing
- Measured byOCO-2 (OCO-2)
- Processing levelLevel 2
- 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 Older versions will no longer be available and are superseded by Version 11.2r.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 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 meteorological parameters interpolated from global assimilation model for each sounding.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="OCO2_L2_Met",
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. Official links
- Access the data via HTTP GET DATA
- Use the Earthdata Search to find and retrieve data sets across multiple data centers. GET DATA
- Access the data via the OPeNDAP protocol. USE SERVICE API
- OCO Documentation VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- README document VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Data Quality document VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Software Interface Specification VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD) VIEW RELATED INFORMATION