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ISLSCP II GlobalView: Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations
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Revision date: August 22, 2012

Summary:

The GlobalView Carbon Dioxide (CO2) data product contains synchronized and smoothed time series of atmospheric CO2 concentrations at selected sites that were created using the data extension and integration techniques described by Masarie and Tans, (1995). The information needed to derive this time series is also in this data set, along with extensive documentation. The longest period of coverage is from 1979 to 2001 with some sites having longer or shorter temporal coverage.

These techniques were developed using CO2 measurements from the NOAA CMDL cooperative air sampling network and have been successfully applied to other trace gas measurement records. Carbon dioxide data from other laboratories have been extended and integrated with the NOAA CMDL measurements into GlobalView CO2 with careful attention to both methodology and standard scales.

Note that the GlobalView CO2 data products are derived from measurements but contain no actual data. To facilitate heterogenous CO2 data use in carbon cycle modeling studies, the measurements have been processed (smoothed, interpolated, and extrapolated) resulting in extended records that are evenly incremented in time. Note that GLOBALVIEW- CO2 data and documents are updated once every two years and the most up-to-date references are available at http://www.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccgg/globalview/.

There are 92 files with this data set which includes 89 *.zip data files. The other three files include 2  files with site information, one comma-delimited ASCII file (.csv), and one .dat file, and one .dat file which is a single reference marine boundary layer matrix file which contains CO2 mixing ratios as a function of time and sine of latitude and is a by-product of the data extension procedure.

Additional information and GLOBALVIEW product updates maybe found at: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/globalview/.

Additional Documentation:

This data set is one of the products of the International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project, Initiative II (ISLSCP II) data collection which contains 50 global time series data sets for the ten-year period 1986 to 1995. A complete description of the data, it's derivation, project and workshop descriptions, acknowledgements, and references provided by the ISLSCP II Data Management Staff are included with this data set in the following companion files: 1_globalview_co2_doc.pdf  and  2_gv_co2_2003_doc.pdf.

ISLSCP II is a consistent collection of data sets that were compiled from existing data sources and algorithms, and were designed to satisfy the needs of modelers and investigators of the global carbon, water, and energy cycle. The data were acquired from a number of US and international agencies, universities, and institutions. The data and documentation have undergone two peer reviews.

ISLSCP is one of several projects of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) [http://www.gewex.org/] and has the lead role in addressing land-atmosphere interactions -- process modeling, data retrieval algorithms, field experiment design and execution, and the development of global data sets.

Related Data Sets:

Data Citation:

Cite this data set as follows:

Masarie, K.A. 2012. ISLSCP II GlobalView: Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations. In Hall, Forrest G., G. Collatz, B. Meeson, S. Los, E. Brown de Colstoun, and D. Landis (eds.). ISLSCP Initiative II Collection. Data set. Available on-line [http://daac.ornl.gov/] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1111

File Information:

The archived data sets for ISLSCP II have been organized by categories. This data set is in the Carbon category.

Data Set Spatial Extent: point measurements throughout the world

Westernmost Longitude: -180 W

Easternmost Longitude: 180 E

Northernmost Latitude: 90N

Southernmost Latitude: -90 S

Projection: Geographic

Data Set Temporal Extent: 1979 through 2001

Data File Format 

There are 92 data files with this data set, which includes 89 compressed *.zip files and 3 additional files described below:

0_gv_table_co2.csv: contains a table with site information for all sites used in this data set and measurement labs.

0_globalview_co2_sites.dat: contains the full names of the sites with the abbreviations, latitude, longitude, and temporal coverage for all sites used in this data set.

0_ref_mbl_mtx_co2.dat: a single reference marine boundary layer matrix file which contains CO2 mixing ratios as a function of time and sine of latitude and is a by-product of the data extension procedure (see Masarie and Tans, 1995).

The 89 .zip files are named after the sampling site and the country or location of the site.

For example:

hat-japan_co2.zip: Site location is Hateruma Island, Japan
pfa-alaska_co2.zip: Site location is Poker Flats, Alaska, U.S.A.

When extrapolated the 89 .zip files contain the following number of dat files:

File name# of dat files
aia-australia_co2.zip35
alt-canada_co2.zip23
ams-france_co2.zip9
asc-ascension_island_co2.zip5
ask-algeria_co2.zip5
avi-virgin_islands_co2.zip5
azr-azores_co2.zip5
bal-poland_co2.zip10
bhd-new_zealand_co2.zip4
bme-bermuda_co2.zip5
bmw-bermuda_co2.zip5
brw-alaska_co2.zip9
rumania_co2.zip5
car-colorado_co2.zip30
cba-alaska_co2.zip9
cgo-australia_co2.zip14
chr-christmas_island_co2.zip5
cmn-italy_co2.zip4
cmo-oregon_co2.zip5
cpt-south_africa_co2.zip4
cri-india_co2.zip5
crz-crozet_island_co2.zip5
daa-australia_co2.zip5
eic-easter_island_co2.zip5
esp-bc_canada_co2.zip19
gmi-guam_co2.zip5
goz-malta_co2.zip5
gsn-korea_co2.zip4
haa-hawaii_co2.zip40
hat-japan_co2.zip4
hun-hungary_co2.zip25
ice-iceland_co2.zip5
itn-north_carolina_co2.zip20
izo-canary_islands_co2.zip9
jbn-antarctica_co2.zip4
key-florida_co2.zip5
kum-hawaii_co2.zip9
kzd-kazakstan_co2.zip5
kzm-kazakstan_co2.zip5
lef-wisconsin_co2.zip35
ljo-california_co2.zip4
lmp-italy_co2.zip4
maa-antarctica_co2.zip5
mbc-canada_co2.zip5
mhd-ireland_co2.zip13
mid-midway_island_co2.zip5
mlo-hawaii_co2.zip19
mnm-japan_co2.zip4
mqa-macquarie_island_co2.zip5
nwr-colorodo_co2.zip5
opw-washington_state_co2.zip5
orl-france_co2.zip20
pal-finland_co2.zip8
pfa-alaska_co2.zip35
poc0-pacific_ocn_equatr_co2.zip5
pocn-pacific_ocn_north_co2.zip45
pocs-pacific_ocn_south_co2.zip35
prs-italy_co2.zip8
psa-antarctica_co2.zip10
rpb-barbados_co2.zip5
rta-cook_islands_co2.zip25
ryo-japan_co2.zip4
sbl-nova_scotia_canada_co2.zip5
sch-germany_co2.zip4
scsn-south_china_sea_co2.zip35
sey-seychelle_islands_co2.zip5
shm-alaska_co2.zip5
sis-scotland_co2.zip5
smo-samoa_co2.zip13
spo-antarctica_s_pole_co2.zip18
spo-antarctica_south_pl_co2.zip18
stm-norway_atlantic_ocn_c02.zip10
norway_atlantic_ocn_co2.zip10
stp-canada_pacific_ocn_co2.zip9
syo-antarctica_co2.zip9
tap-korea_co2.zip5
tdf-argentina_co2.zip5
trm-france_co2.zip5
uta-utah_co2.zip5
uum-mongolia_co2.zip5
wes-germany_north_sea_co2.zip4
wis-israel_co2.zip5
wkt-texas_co2.zip30
wlg-china_co2.zip9
wpo-western_pacific_ocn_co2.zip48
yon-japan_co2.zip4
zep-spitsbergen_co2.zip9

The .dat file names use the following format:

site/prog_data group_lab#_sampling strategy_sampling platform_qualifier_ch4.dat

where:

site/prog: 3-character alphanumeric field specifying site or program code.

data group: grouping of data within the file.

lab# (contributing laboratory): Two-character numeric field identifies the measurement laboratory (00-99).
Sampling strategy: Single alphanumeric character (0-9,a-z,A-Z) indicates the sampling strategy.

Sampling platform: Single alphanumeric character (0-9,a-z,A-Z) indicates the sampling platform.

Qualifier: Multiple alphanumeric character field (0-9,a-z,A-Z) identifies the file’s contents. Files with the “ext”, “wts”, “var”, and “seas” qualifier exist for all sites. Files with the “diu” qualifier accompany a subset of extended records derived from high-resolution measurement records where the diurnal cycle is a dominant feature of the observations. Files with the “tod” qualifier accompany a subset of extended records derived from discrete measurements where sample collection times have been made available.

Example data file names:

cgo_02D0_ext_co2.dat: extended CO2 record derived from CSIRO discrete measurements at Cape Grim.

lef011_00C3_diu_c02.dat: average diurnal cycle of CO2 derived from CMDL continuous measurements from a tower in Wisconsin. Sampling height is 11 m.

orl035_11D2_seas_co2.dat: average seasonal cycle of CO2 derived from the LSCE discrete measurements from aircraft. Altitude bin is centered at 3.5 km.

orl035_11D2_var_co2.dat: average atmospheric variability of CO2 derived from the LSCE discrete measurements from aircraft. Altitude bin is centered at 3.5 km. Location is France.

Refer to 0_globalview_co2_sites.dat for site names and site information.

Refer to 0_globalview_c02_readme.txt and 1_globalview_co2_doc.pdf for a more complete description of the data files and naming conventions.

References:

Masarie, K.A. and P.P Tans, "Extension and Integration of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Data into a Globally Consistent Measurement Record. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 100, No. D6, p. 11593-11610. June 1995.

Data Access:

This data is available through the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

Data Archive Center:

Contact for Data Center Access Information:
E-mail: uso@daac.ornl.gov
Telephone: +1 (865) 241-3952