DISCOVER-AQ: Texas Ground Site Air Quality Measurements

DISCOVER-AQ_Texas_Ground_SmithPoint_Data contains surface-level measurements collected at the Smith Point ground site during NASA's DISCOVER-AQ field study in Houston, Texas in 2013. The data was collected by NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Ames Research Center, and multiple universities to validate satellite observations of near-surface pollution. The dataset includes measurements from aircraft spirals, ground monitors, sun photometers, and spectrometers.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde based on surface-level measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of atmospheric pollutants using ground and aircraft data.
• Investigate horizontal scales of pollution variability, such as urban plumes and steep gradients.
• Diagnose factors influencing ground-level air quality using in-situ spiral profiling data.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the Texas deployment.
• Integrates measurements from multiple platforms: two NASA aircraft (P-3B and King Air), surface monitors, AERONET sun photometers, and Pandora spectrometers.
• Campaign targeted regions in violation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

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 a single deployment (Texas/Houston, 2013).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

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

Time Range

2013 (Texas/Houston deployment).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:20:27.928413; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Smith Point ground site, Houston, Texas, USA.