DISCOVER-AQ Maryland Deployment: Beltsville Ground Site Air Quality Data

The Maryland deployment of NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected data at the Beltsville ground site to validate satellite observations of near-surface pollution. The campaign involved NASA Langley, Goddard, Ames Research Centers and universities, employing aircraft and ground-based platforms. Data collection is complete for the Maryland deployment, which targeted Baltimore-Washington, D.C. in 2011.

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.
• Investigate horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes and steep gradients, based on multi-platform data.
• Diagnose factors influencing near-surface air quality based on in-situ spiral profiling and remote sensing data.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Maryland deployment.
• Incorporates measurements from multiple platforms: aircraft, ground sites, AERONET photometers, Pandora spectrometers, and models.
• Campaign targeted regions in violation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected via targeted airborne and ground-based observations during the DISCOVER-AQ field study.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:21:27.799977; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Beltsville ground site, Maryland (Baltimore-Washington, D.C.) deployment in 2011.