DISCOVER-AQ: California Aircraft Merged Air Pollution Data

NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected airborne and ground-based measurements in the San Joaquin Valley in 2013 to validate satellite observations of surface air pollution. The P-3B aircraft performed spiral profiles measuring aerosol properties, meteorological variables, and trace gases like ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde. This merged data product is specific to the California deployment and is part of a four-year campaign that also included studies in Baltimore-Washington, Houston, and Denver.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of air pollutants based on concurrent surface and aircraft measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of trace gases like ozone and nitrogen dioxide based on surface-level measurements.
• Model horizontal scales of pollution variability, such as urban plumes and steep gradients, based on targeted airborne observations.
• Diagnose factors influencing near-surface pollution concentrations based on vertically resolved atmospheric profiles.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the California deployment.
• Campaign employed two NASA aircraft (P-3B and King Air) and integrated data from surface monitors, sun photometers, and model simulations.
• Focuses on three key trace gases (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde) relevant to National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In-situ spiral profiling by a P-3B aircraft during the DISCOVER-AQ field study.

Time Range

2013

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:22:07.396139; freshness should be verified.

Geography

San Joaquin Valley, California