The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 early science investigations of regional carbon dioxide fluxes

Abstract

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission was motivated by the need to diagnose how the increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) is altering the productivity of the biosphere and the uptake of CO₂ by the oceans. Launched on 2 July 2014, OCO-2 provides retrievals of the column-averaged CO₂ dry-air mole fraction ([Formula: see text]) as well as the fluorescence from chlorophyll in terrestrial plants. The seasonal pattern of uptake by the terrestrial biosphere is recorded in fluorescence and the drawdown of [Formula: see text] during summer. Launched just before one of the most intense El Niños of the past century, OCO-2 measurements of [Formula: see text] and fluorescence record the impact of the large change in ocean temperature and rainfall on uptake and release of CO₂ by the oceans and biosphere.