DISCOVER-AQ: In Situ Aircraft Aerosol Measurements from Texas Deployment

NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected in situ aerosol data onboard a P-3B aircraft during its Texas (Houston) deployment. The data product includes measurements from instruments like the PSAP, APS, CPC, CCN, Nephelometer, LAS, PILS, TOC, SMPS, SP2, and UHSAS. This dataset is part of a four-year field study designed to improve the use of satellites for monitoring air quality by validating observations with surface-level measurements.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite-based air quality observations based on in situ aerosol measurements.
• Analyze correlations between surface pollution and atmospheric column observations based on trace gas and aerosol data.
• Study diurnal variability of pollutants near the surface based on aircraft spiral profiling data.
• Investigate horizontal scales of variability, such as urban plumes, based on targeted airborne observations.
• Model ground-level air quality conditions based on integrated aircraft and ground-based platform measurements.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Texas deployment.
• Instruments utilized include PSAP, APS, CPC, CCN, Nephelometer, LAS, PILS, TOC, SMPS, SP2, and UHSAS.
• Campaign involved collaboration between NASA Langley, Goddard, Ames Research Centers, and multiple universities.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is specific to the Texas deployment and does not cover other DISCOVER-AQ regions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In situ measurements collected onboard NASA's P-3B aircraft during spiral profiling.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:20:15.530268; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Texas (Houston) deployment.