DISCOVER-AQ Maryland: Ground-Based NO2 and O3 Column Observations

Maryland deployment data from the DISCOVER-AQ campaign includes column measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) from Pandora spectrometers at 12 ground sites, including Aldino, Beltsville, and Edgewood. The four-year campaign was a collaboration between NASA research centers and universities, using aircraft and ground observations to improve satellite monitoring of near-surface air quality. Data collection for this Maryland deployment is complete.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of NO2 and O3 based on concurrent ground-based Pandora spectrometer data.
• Investigate correlations between surface pollution levels and total atmospheric column measurements mentioned in the campaign objectives.
• Study diurnal variability of trace gases in an urban environment using the surface-level measurement strategy described.
• Analyze spatial gradients of air pollutants across the 12 specified Maryland ground sites.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Maryland deployment, as explicitly stated.
• Includes measurements from 12 named ground sites, providing spatial coverage across the study area.
• Part of a targeted four-year NASA campaign with defined scientific objectives 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 and ISO, which may require specialized tools for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by Pandora UV/vis spectrometers at ground sites during the DISCOVER-AQ field study.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:13:19.351589; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Maryland, USA, specifically the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area, with sites including Aldino, Beltsville, Edgewood, Essex, Fairhill, GSFC, Oldtown, Padonia, SERC, UMBC, UMD, and USNA.