DISCOVER-AQ California Ground Measurements for Satellite Validation

NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected ground-level air quality data in California's San Joaquin Valley to validate satellite observations. The California Air Resources Board operated monitoring sites in Fresno, Oildale, and Shafter during the 2013 deployment. This dataset contains surface-level measurements of aerosols, meteorological variables, and trace gases like ozone and nitrogen dioxide.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde based on concurrent surface measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of pollutants based on surface-level measurement campaigns.
• Study horizontal pollution gradients and urban plumes based on multi-site ground monitoring.
• Improve the use of current and future satellites for diagnosing ground-level air quality conditions.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the California deployment.
• Campaign employed two NASA aircraft and an existing network of surface monitors, suggesting multi-platform validation.
• Targeted regions known to violate National Ambient Air Quality Standards, indicating relevance for regulatory studies.

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 may not be representative of other regions or times.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the California Air Resources Board at ground sites as part of the DISCOVER-AQ field study.

Time Range

2013 (California deployment)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:15:26.505886; freshness should be verified.

Geography

San Joaquin Valley, California, USA, including Fresno, Oildale, and Shafter.