DISCOVER-AQ: Colorado Ground Site Air Quality Measurements

NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected surface-level air quality data at the Table Mountain ground site during its 2014 Denver deployment to validate satellite observations. The four-year campaign employed two NASA aircraft, ground monitoring sites, and existing networks to diagnose factors influencing near-surface pollution. Data collection for the Denver deployment is complete.

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 observations.
• Study horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes and steep gradients, based on multi-platform data.
• Improve the use of satellites for monitoring public health and environmental air quality based on campaign findings.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Denver deployment.
• Campaign employed two NASA aircraft (P-3B and King Air) and many surface monitoring sites.
• Data incorporates measurements from an existing network of surface air quality monitors, AERONET sun photometers, and Pandora spectrometers.

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; usability may vary.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected at the Table Mountain ground site during the Colorado deployment of the DISCOVER-AQ field study, involving aircraft spirals, ground sites, and existing monitoring networks.

Time Range

2014 (Denver deployment).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:21:37.233879; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Table Mountain ground site, Denver, Colorado, USA.