DISCOVER-AQ: California Ground Site Air Pollution Measurements

DISCOVER-AQ collected ground-level air pollution data at sites across the San Joaquin Valley, including Bakersfield, Fresno, and Visalia Airport, to validate satellite observations. The four-year NASA campaign involved two aircraft and multiple ground-based platforms to improve the use of satellites for monitoring public health air quality. Data collection for the California deployment is complete.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations for ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde based on surface-level trace gas measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of pollutants based on surface-level measurement objectives.
• Model horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes, based on ground site data across multiple cities.
• Correlate aerosol properties and meteorological variables with satellite data based on aircraft spiral profiling described.
• Assess compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards based on data from targeted violation regions.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the California deployment.
• Campaign involved two NASA aircraft (P-3B and King Air) and an existing network of surface monitors.
• Targeted measurements across 11 ground sites in the San Joaquin Valley.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• File formats include BIN, PDF, ISO, HTML; data accessibility may require specific tools.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District at ground sites, with aircraft and other monitoring platforms, as part of the DISCOVER-AQ field study.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:14:43.762939; freshness should be verified.

Geography

San Joaquin Valley, California, USA (specific sites: Bakersfield, Clovis, Corcoran, Fresno, Hanford, Huron, Madera, Parlier, Porterville, Tranquility, Visalia Airport)