A New Picture of Carbon Dioxide

  • Released Thursday, November 26, 2015
View full credits
Observations from space are helping NASA see carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere like never before.

Observations from space are helping NASA see carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere like never before.

Levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide have risen sharply over the last 50 years due to human activity and the burning of fossil fuels. Today, about half of the carbon dioxide that’s emitted into the atmosphere is absorbed by Earth’s land and oceans. But exactly where the carbon ends up is not well understood. To get a clearer picture, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, satellite is collecting measurements from space of carbon dioxide levels near the planet’s surface. By observing how concentrations vary over time, scientists can pinpoint areas on the globe that take up or release large amounts of the gas, and observe changes from season to season and year to year. The findings will help scientists quantify carbon dioxide sources and reservoirs, and determine what effect rising carbon dioxide levels might have in the future. Watch the video to see a visualization of the satellite’s first year of observations.

This visualization shows carbon dioxide concentrations in parts per million (ppm) observed by OCO-2 from September 2014 to August 2015.

The OCO-2 satellite circles Earth every 99 minutes, and collects carbon dioxide measurements over a narrow ground track each orbit.

The OCO-2 satellite circles Earth every 99 minutes, and collects carbon dioxide measurements over a narrow ground track each orbit.

The satellite achieves global coverage every 16 days, allowing scientists to generate complete maps of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

The satellite achieves global coverage every 16 days, allowing scientists to generate complete maps of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

Launched in July 2014, OCO-2 is NASA’s first satellite dedicated to measuring carbon dioxide.

Launched in July 2014, OCO-2 is NASA’s first satellite dedicated to measuring carbon dioxide.

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
OCO-2 satellite and satellite data images courtesy of NASA/JPL

This page was originally published on Thursday, November 26, 2015.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:49 PM EDT.