DISCOVER-AQ Colorado EPA Ground Site Data for Air Quality Validation

Data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at ground sites in Colorado during the 2014 Denver deployment of NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign. The dataset likely contains surface-level measurements of aerosol properties, meteorological variables, and trace gas species from sites including Chatfield Park, Fort Collins, NREL-Golden, and Denver-I25. It was created to validate satellite observations and improve understanding of near-surface pollution.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde based on surface-level measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of air pollutants based on ground and aircraft data.
• Investigate correlations between surface pollution and atmospheric column measurements.
• Study horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes, in targeted regions violating air quality standards.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Denver deployment, providing a finalized dataset.
• Integrates measurements from multiple ground sites, aircraft, and existing monitoring networks.
• Part of a four-year NASA campaign involving multiple research centers and universities.

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, and HTML, which may require specialized tools for processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at ground sites as part of the DISCOVER-AQ field study.

Time Range

2014 (Colorado deployment)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:21:41.465465; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Colorado, USA, specifically sites around Chatfield Park, Fort Collins, NREL-Golden, and Denver-I25.