Validation of OCO-2 XCO2 Data Products – An Update After Nearly Seven Years in Orbit

Gregory Osterman,  JPL/Caltech,  gregory.osterman@jpl.nasa.gov (Presenter)
Matthäus Kiel,  JPL/Caltech,  matthaeus.kiel@jpl.nasa.gov
Thomas Taylor,  Colorado St University,  tetaylor@colostate.edu
Brendan Fisher,  JPL/Caltech,  brendan.m.fisher@jpl.nasa.gov
Christopher O'Dell,  Colorado St University,  christopher.odell@colostate.edu
Robert Nelson,  JPL/Caltech,  robert.r.nelson@jpl.nasa.gov
Coleen Roehl,  Caltech,  coleen@gps.caltech.edu
Joshua Laughner,  Caltech,  jlaugh@caltech.edu
Paul Wennberg,  Caltech,  wennberg@gps.caltech.edu
Annmarie Eldering,  JPL/Caltech,  annmarie.eldering@jpl.nasa.gov
David Crisp,  JPL/Caltech,  david.crisp@jpl.nasa.gov
Michael Gunson,  JPL/Caltech,  michael.r.gunson@jpl.nasa.gov
Debra Wunch,  University of Toronto,  dwunch@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) launched in July 2014 and has now provided nearly seven years of observations of the column-averaged CO2 dry air mole fraction, XCO2. The validation plan for the OCO-2 science data was designed to compare the satellite XCO2 to measurements from the Total Carbon Column Observation Network (TCCON), (Wunch et al., 2017, 2011). The validation plan was first implemented when analyzing measurements of XCO2 from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) retrieved with the Atmospheric CO2 Observations from Space (ACOS) retrieval algorithm (Wunch et al., 2011). TCCON data are now used to validate XCO2 measurements not only from ACOS/GOSAT and OCO-2 but also from the OCO-3 instrument, which has been taking measurements from the International Space Station (ISS) since August 2019.

In this work we will show the latest validation results for the OCO-2 version 10 (V10) Level 2 data products utilizing the TCCON data. Also, in 2020, the OCO-2 team released version 9 (V9) of the ACOS/GOSAT data product and we will show the latest validation results for the nearly eleven year data record for those measurements. Other methods of validation are also being utilized. We will highlight comparisons to multi-model means, data from aircraft and balloon-borne instruments. Greenhouse gas observations are being made in an increasingly large number of locations around the globe using portable EM27 Fourier Transform spectrometers. Data from these instruments are becoming an important part of the validation effort for OCO-2 and OCO-3. Our presentation will highlight how validation analyses utilizing these other data sources are being incorporated into the overall validation plan for OCO-2 and OCO-3.

Copyright 2021 California Institute of Technology, U.S. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

Poster: Poster_Osterman__133_25.pdf 

Presentation Type: Poster

Session: 1.5b Results from current missions

Session Date: Monday (6/14) 12:00 PM