Science

A decade of carbon dioxide data from space receives an upgrade.

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Briefings

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and -3 provide daily measurements of sunlight reflecting off Earth's surface, which an algorithm converts into atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This data collection method enables continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide levels over time.

Key points

• Two NASA instruments, OCO-2 and OCO-3, capture over a million sunlight observations daily.
• The algorithm converts these optical observations into precise atmospheric CO2 concentration values.

Context

Continuous space-based monitoring of atmospheric composition allows for long-term climate trend analysis and validation of ground-based measurements.

Limitations

Data coverage is limited to the specific wavelengths of sunlight reflected by Earth's surface; atmospheric conditions affecting light transmission are not fully accounted for in the current algorithm.

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