DISCOVER-AQ: Ancillary Ground Site Data for California Air Quality Study

A 2013 deployment in California's San Joaquin Valley collected ancillary ground site data as part of NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign. The data was gathered by NASA Langley, Goddard, Ames Research Centers, and universities to validate satellite observations of near-surface pollution. It includes measurements from surface air quality monitors, AERONET sun photometers, Pandora spectrometers, and model simulations.

Use Cases

• Correlating satellite column observations with surface measurements for ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde based on the campaign's first objective.
• Analyzing diurnal variability of pollutants using surface-level measurements as described in the campaign's objectives.
• Exploring horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes and steep gradients, based on the campaign's final aim.
• Validating and improving the use of satellite data for diagnosing ground-level air quality conditions as described in the study's purpose.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the California deployment, as explicitly stated.
• Integrates measurements from multiple platforms: aircraft, ground-based sites, AERONET photometers, Pandora spectrometers, and models.
• Campaign was conducted by multiple NASA research centers and universities, indicating a collaborative, authoritative effort.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is specific to the 2013 California deployment and does not cover other DISCOVER-AQ regions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected at ancillary ground sites during targeted airborne and ground-based observations.

Time Range

2013

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:22:24.772737; freshness should be verified.

Geography

San Joaquin Valley, California