DISCOVER-AQ California Ozonesonde Data from Porterville Ground Site

NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected ozonesonde launch data at Porterville, California to validate satellite observations of near-surface pollution. The four-year study employed two NASA aircraft, ground-based monitoring sites, and instruments like Pandora spectrometers across multiple U.S. regions violating air quality standards. Data collection for the California deployment is complete.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of ozone (O3) based on surface-level ozonesonde measurements.
• Analyze correlations between surface pollution and satellite data for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and formaldehyde (CH2O) as described.
• Study diurnal variability of atmospheric pollutants using the surface-level measurement data.
• Explore horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes, using the targeted airborne and ground-based observations.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the California deployment.
• Campaign involved multiple NASA research centers and universities over four years.
• Incorporates measurements from aircraft, ground sites, and an existing network of surface monitors.

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 Porterville ground site during the 2013 California deployment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected via ozonesonde launches at the Porterville ground site during the DISCOVER-AQ field study.

Time Range

2013 (California deployment)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:22:16.162175; freshness should be verified.

Geography

San Joaquin Valley, California, USA (Porterville ground site)