OCO-3 Stories
NASA Space Missions Pinpoint Sources of CO2 Emissions on Earth
A case study involving Europe’s largest coal-fired power plant shows space-based observations can be used to track carbon dioxide emissions – and reductions – at the source. A duo of Earth-observing missions has enabled researchers to detect and track carbon…
20 Years of Observing Earth from the International Space Station
After 20 years of continuous human presence, the International Space Station (ISS) has provided 241 visitors with an extraordinary view of Earth from outer space — one they have shared with the rest of the world. Astronaut photography, formally called…
Study: Decaying Urban Greenery Plays a Surprising Role in Carbon Emissions
A new study tracing the sources of carbon dioxide, the most significant human-generated greenhouse gas, reveals the unexpectedly large influence of vegetation in urban environments. Burning fossil fuels in densely populated regions greatly increases the level of the greenhouse gas,…
NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 Gets First Data
NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3), the agency’s newest carbon dioxide-measuring mission to launch into space, has seen the light. From its perch on the International Space Station, OCO-3 captured its first glimpses of sunlight reflected by Earth’s surface on June…
First Data from NASA’s OCO-3 Mission: ‘CO2, I See You’
From its perch on the International Space Station, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) is gathering its very first carbon dioxide data. It's also measuring plant "glow."
NASA’s OCO-3 Measures How Plants Grow — and Glow
When plants take in too much energy, they don’t get fat — they lighten up. They absorb more sunlight than they need to power photosynthesis, and they get rid of the excess solar energy by emitting it as a very…
More Than a Carbon Copy: OCO-3 on the Space Station
NASA is ready to launch a new space instrument that will use the vantage point of the International Space Station to monitor Earth’s carbon cycle. A follow-on to the still-active OCO-2 mission, OCO-3 will bring not only a new vantage…
Earth Science on the Space Station Continues to Grow
The number of instruments on the International Space Station dedicated to observing Earth to increase our understanding of our home planet continues to grow. Two new instruments are scheduled to make their way to the station Feb. 18 on the…
Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds
From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on…