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OCO3_L1B_Calibration·v11·dataset

Instrument calibration spectra for the CO2 sensor (OCO-3)

OCO-3 Level 1B calibrated, geolocated calibration spectra, Forward Processing V11 (OCO3_L1B_Calibration) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 1B active
In plain English

What it measures. Calibration measurements (such as views of the Moon, Sun, and dark space) for the OCO-3 carbon-dioxide instrument, used to keep its readings accurate. It is not a map of CO2.

How it's made. Produced at Level 1B from OCO-3's three high-resolution spectrometers aboard the International Space Station, processed from its calibration-mode observations.

How & where you'd use it. An engineering and calibration product that underpins the accuracy of OCO-3's carbon-dioxide measurements; researchers use the science products rather than this directly.

What's measured

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

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2019-12-17 → ongoing
  • Measured byISS (OCO-3)
  • Processing levelLevel 1B
  • Spatial extent-180, -53, 180, 53
  • 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 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and are superseded by Version 11. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory -3 (OCO-3) was deployed to the International Space Station in May, 2019. It is technically a single instrument, almost identical to OCO-2. 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-3 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. The three spectrometers have different characteristics and are calibrated independently. Their raw data numbers (DN) are delivered correlated in time to the 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 OCO3_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 direction of the boresight vector.

Get the data

oco3_l1b_calibration_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="OCO3_L1B_Calibration",
    version="11",
    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.