Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3)

iss059e114054 (6/20/2019) --- View of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) payload on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Exposed Facility (EF). The OCO-3, to be installed on the Japanese Experiment Module-Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) of the International Space Station (ISS), observes the complex dynamics of the Earth’s atmospheric carbon cycle. The OCO-3 payload is designed to collect the space-based measurements needed to quantify variations in the column-averaged atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) dry-air mole fraction, XCO2, with the precision, resolution, and coverage needed to improve the understanding of surface CO2 sources and sinks (fluxes) on regional scales (?1000 km), and the processes controlling their variability over the seasonal cycle.