DISCOVER-AQ Colorado Deployment: Platteville Ground Site Air Quality Data

NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected this ground site data in Colorado to validate satellite observations of near-surface pollution. The four-year study employed aircraft spirals and ground-based platforms to correlate surface conditions with atmospheric column measurements. Data collection is complete for the Colorado deployment, focusing on ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde based on surface-level measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of pollutants based on ground and aircraft observations.
• Investigate horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes, based on multi-platform data collection.
• Diagnose ground-level conditions influencing air quality based on targeted airborne and ground-based observations.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Colorado deployment, providing a finalized dataset.
• Incorporates measurements from multiple platforms: two NASA aircraft, surface monitors, sun photometers, and spectrometers.
• Focuses on three key trace gases (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde) for satellite validation.

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, which may require specialized tools for processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected at the Platteville ground site during the Colorado deployment of the DISCOVER-AQ field study, using aircraft spirals, surface monitors, and remote sensing instruments.

Time Range

Colorado deployment occurred in 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:21:17.289495; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Platteville ground site in Colorado, USA.