Summary
CarbonTracker Near-Real Time (CT-NRT) is an extension of the formal CarbonTracker CO2 analysis system, designed to bridge the gap between annual updates of the formal CarbonTracker product. It extends model results past the end of the current CarbonTracker release up until the most recent date we can simulate. Usually this is limited by the availability of ERA5 meteorology to drive the TM5 transport model. CT-NRT uses real-time meteorology, different flux priors, and after Jan 2022 assimilates only a fraction of the CO2 observations assimilated by the formal CarbonTracker product. These are provisional, near-real time CO2 observations from the small set of sites able to provide them. CT-NRT was created with sponsorship from NASA, for use in the OCO-2 and ACT-America projects.