Skip to main content

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 Older versions will no longer be available and are superseded by Version 11r.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 -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.

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.

Oxygen-A Band cloud screening algorithm is one of the primary cloud screening tools implemented in the operational OCO processing pipeline. The algorithm was introduced and applied to early GOSAT data with further analysis performed on OCO-2 simulations.

The OCO ABO2 algorithm employs a fast Bayesian retrieval to estimate surface pressure and surface albedo from high resolution spectra of the molecular oxygen (O2) A-band, near 0.765 µm. The radiative transfer forward model (FM) assumes a clear-sky condition, i.e. Rayleigh scattering only, such that differences between the modeled and measured radiances are apparent when the measurement scene contains cloud or aerosol.

Product Summary

Platforms
ISS
Instruments
OCO-3
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2019-08-06
Data Partner
Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (formerly Goddard DAAC), Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDI
Concept ID
C2910085832-GES_DISC
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
1844
Processing Level
2
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Science Data Operations System, J. P. L. (2023). OCO-3 Level 2, bias-corrected solar-induced fluorescence and other select fields from the IMAP-DOAS algorithm aggregated as daily files, Retrospective Processing V11r [Data set]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/HC776J71KV41 Date Accessed: 2025-12-15

Documents

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
Cloud/cloud_flag_abp Indicator of whether the sounding contained clouds: 0 - "Classified clear", 1 - "Classified cloudy", 2 - "Not classified", all other values undefined; not used in SIF Lite processing n/a int16 N/A N/A 1
Cloud/co2_ratio Ratio of CO2 retrieved in weak and strong CO2 band (value near 1 indicate scattering free scene) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Cloud/delta_pressure_abp Retrieved-predicted surface pressure from ABO2, usable as cloud screener; not used in SIF Lite processing Pa float32 N/A N/A 1
Cloud/o2_ratio Ratio of retrieved and predicted O2 column n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Cloud/surface_albedo_abp Surface albedo (lambertian equivalent) as retrieved in the ABO2 preprocessor at 760nm; not used in SIF processing n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Daily_SIF_740nm Daily Corrected Solar induced chlorophyll fluorescence at 740 nm: Daily_SIF_740nm = SIF_740 * /Science/daily_correction_factor W/m^2/sr/µm float32 N/A N/A 1
Daily_SIF_757nm Daily Corrected Solar induced chlorophyll fluorescence at 757 nm: Daily_SIF_757nm = /Science/sif_757nm * /Science/daily_correction_factor W/m^2/sr/µm float32 N/A N/A 1
Daily_SIF_771nm Daily Corrected Solar induced chlorophyll fluorescence at 771 nm: Daily_SIF_771nm = /Science/sif_771nm * /Science/daily_correction_factor W/m^2/sr/µm float32 N/A N/A 1
Delta_Time Timestamp (seconds since 1 January 1990) N/A float64 N/A N/A 1
Diagnostics/detailed_quality_bitflag_best Detailed Bitflag for QualityFlag Assignment n/a int32 N/A N/A 1
Diagnostics/detailed_quality_bitflag_good Detailed Bitflag for QualityFlag Assignment; 00: Continuum Radiance 757 < min(Threshold 0); 01: Continuum Radiance 757 > max(Threshold 0); 02: SIF Chi^2 757 < min(Threshold 1); 03: SIF Chi^2 757 > max(Threshold 1); 04: SIF Chi^2 771 < min(Threshold 2); 05: SIF Chi^2 771 > max(Threshold 2); 06: O2 Ratio < min(Threshold 3); 07: O2 Ratio > max(Threshold 3); 08: CO2 Ratio < min(Threshold 4); 19: CO2 Ratio > max(Threshold 4); 10: Solar Zenith Angle > max(Threshold 5); 11: Land Fraction < min(Threshold 6); 12: L1b Quality Flag != Threshold 7; 13-15: not used n/a int32 N/A N/A 1
Diagnostics/quality_bitflag_thresholds_best Minimum and Maximum Thresholds for Detailed Bitflag and QualityFlag Assignment; 0: Continuum Radiances 757 nm; 1: SIF Chi^2 757 nm; 2: SIF Chi^2 771 nm; 3: O2 Ratio; 4: CO2 Ratio; 5: Solar Zenith Angle; 6: Land Fraction; 7: L1b Quality Flag n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Diagnostics/quality_bitflag_thresholds_good Minimum and Maximum Thresholds for Detailed Bitflag and QualityFlag Assignment; 0: Continuum Radiances 757 nm; 1: SIF Chi^2 757 nm; 2: SIF Chi^2 771 nm; 3: O2 Ratio; 4: CO2 Ratio; 5: Solar Zenith Angle; 6: Land Fraction; 7: L1b Quality Flag n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/altitude Surface altitude of observed footprint m float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/footprint_latitude_vertices Latitude corner coordinates of the sounding location degrees_north float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/footprint_longitude_vertices Longitude corner coordinates of the sounding location degrees_east float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/latitude Center latitude of the measurement degrees_north float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/longitude Center longitude of the measurement N/A float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/sensor_azimuth_angle Azimuth angle between line of sight and local north degrees float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/sensor_zenith_angle Sensor zenith angle is the angle between the line of sight to the sensor and the local vertical degrees float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/solar_azimuth_angle Azimuth angle between the solar direction as defined by the sounding location, and the soudning local north degrees float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/solar_zenith_angle Solar zenith angle is the angle between the line of sight to the sun and the local vertical degrees float32 N/A N/A 1
Geolocation/time_tai93 Timestamp (seconds since 1 January 1993) seconds since 1993-01-01 00:00:00 UTC float64 N/A N/A 1
Latitude Center latitude of the measurement degrees_north float32 N/A N/A 1
Latitude_Corners Corner latitude of the measurement degrees_north float32 N/A N/A 1
Longitude Center longitude of the measurement degrees_east float32 N/A N/A 1
Longitude_Corners Corner longitude of the measurement degrees_east float32 N/A N/A 1
Metadata/BuildId The ID of the Build, including the software version that created this product n/a OTHER N/A N/A N/A
Metadata/CollectionLabel The Collection Label of the Build, including the software version that created this product n/a OTHER N/A N/A N/A
Metadata/FootprintId OCO-3 footprint identifier (1-8), identifying the 8 independent OCO-3 spatial samples per frame n/a int16 N/A N/A 1
Metadata/MeasurementMode Instrument Measurement Mode, 0=Nadir, 1=Glint, 2=Target, 3=AreaMap, 4=Transition; users might consider to separate these for analysis n/a int16 N/A N/A 1
Metadata/OrbitId Orbit Identifier: Start Orbit Number (OCO-2) or Start Solar Day (OCO-3) of observation n/a int32 N/A N/A 1
Metadata/SoundingId Unique Identifier for each sounding YYYYMMDDHHMMSS int64 N/A N/A 1
Meteo/specific_humidity Specific humidity at surface layer at the sounding location, interpolated from GEOS-5 FP-IT inst3_3d_asm_Nv field QV (specific_humidity) kg/kg float32 N/A N/A 1
Meteo/surface_pressure Surface pressure at the sounding location; interpolated from GEOS-5 FP-IT inst3_3d_asm_Nv field PS (surface_pressure) Pa float32 N/A N/A 1
Meteo/temperature_skin Skin temperature at the sounding location; interpolated from GEOS-5 FP-IT inst3_2d_asm_Nx field TS (surface_skin_temperature) K float32 N/A N/A 1
Meteo/temperature_two_meter Two-meter temperature at the sounding location; interpolated from GEOS-5 FP-IT inst3_2d_asm_Nx field T2M (2-meter_air_temperature) K float32 N/A N/A 1
Meteo/vapor_pressure_deficit Vapor pressure deficit at the sounding location (2m) Pa float32 N/A N/A 1
Meteo/wind_speed Surface wind speed at sounding location; interpolated from GEOS-5 FP-IT inst3_2d_asm_Nx field U10M and inst3_2d_asm_Nx field V10M (10-meter_eastward_wind, 10-meter_northward_wind) m/s float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Mean_757nm Mean Solar Induced Fluorescence at 757nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Mean_771nm Mean Solar Induced Fluorescence at 771nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Median_757nm Median Solar Induced Fluorescence at 757nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Median_771nm Median Solar Induced Fluorescence at 771nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Relative_Mean_757nm Mean relative Solar Induced Fluorescence at 757nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Relative_Mean_771nm Mean relative Solar Induced Fluorescence at 771nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Relative_Median_757nm Median relative Solar Induced Fluorescence at 757nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Relative_Median_771nm Median relative Solar Induced Fluorescence at 771nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Relative_SDev_757nm Standard deviation of relative Solar Induced Fluorescence at 757nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/SIF_Relative_SDev_771nm Standard deviation of relative Solar Induced Fluorescence at 771nm (by footprint, for adjusted and unadjusted values) n/a float32 N/A N/A 1
Offset/signal_histogram_757nm Signal level histogram for 757 nm radiances n/a int32 N/A N/A 1
You're viewing 50 of 81