DISCOVER-AQ Colorado: Mobile Ground Data for Satellite Air Quality Validation

NASA's DISCOVER-AQ Colorado deployment collected ground-level mobile measurements via the Princeton Mobile Lab and NASA Langley LARGE Mobile Lab. The campaign aimed to validate satellite observations of near-surface pollution by correlating surface measurements with atmospheric column data for ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde. Data collection is complete for the Colorado deployment in 2014.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of ozone (O3) based on concurrent ground-level measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution using surface-level data.
• Model urban plume dispersion and steep pollution gradients based on horizontal scale measurements.
• Correlate aerosol properties and meteorological variables with trace gas species from spiral profiling.
• Improve public health air quality diagnostics by integrating aircraft, ground, and satellite data.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Colorado deployment, providing a finalized dataset.
• Campaign employed two NASA aircraft (P3-B and King Air) and multiple surface monitoring sites for multi-platform validation.
• Targeted regions in violation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), focusing on high-priority areas.

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 and ISO, which may require specialized tools for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected via mobile labs (Princeton Mobile Lab, NASA Langley LARGE Mobile Lab), aircraft (P3-B, King Air), and surface monitoring sites during a targeted field campaign.

Time Range

Colorado deployment in 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:21:41.422572; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Denver, Colorado region.