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DISCOVER-AQ Texas Deployment Smith Point Ground Site Data

Metadata Updated: September 19, 2025

DISCOVERAQ_Texas_Ground_SmithPoint_Data contains data collected at the Smith Point ground site during the Texas (Houston) deployment of NASA's DISCOVER-AQ field study. This data product contains data for only the Texas deployment and data collection is complete.Understanding the factors that contribute to near surface pollution is difficult using only satellite-based observations. The incorporation of surface-level measurements from aircraft and ground-based platforms provides the crucial information necessary to validate and expand upon the use of satellites in understanding near surface pollution. Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) was a four-year campaign conducted in collaboration between NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Ames Research Center, and multiple universities to improve the use of satellites to monitor air quality for public health and environmental benefit. Through targeted airborne and ground-based observations, DISCOVER-AQ enabled more effective use of current and future satellites to diagnose ground level conditions influencing air quality.DISCOVER-AQ employed two NASA aircraft, the P-3B and King Air, with the P-3B completing in-situ spiral profiling of the atmosphere (aerosol properties, meteorological variables, and trace gas species). The King Air conducted both passive and active remote sensing of the atmospheric column extending below the aircraft to the surface. Data from an existing network of surface air quality monitors, AERONET sun photometers, Pandora UV/vis spectrometers and model simulations were also collected. Further, DISCOVER-AQ employed many surface monitoring sites, with measurements being made on the ground, in conjunction with the aircraft. The B200 and P-3B conducted flights in Baltimore-Washington, D.C. in 2011, Houston, TX in 2013, San Joaquin Valley, CA in 2013, and Denver, CO in 2014. These regions were targeted due to being in violation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).The first objective of DISCOVER-AQ was to determine and investigate correlations between surface measurements and satellite column observations for the trace gases ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and formaldehyde (CH2O) to understand how satellite column observations can diagnose surface conditions. DISCOVER-AQ also had the objective of using surface-level measurements to understand how satellites measure diurnal variability and to understand what factors control diurnal variability. Lastly, DISCOVER-AQ aimed to explore horizontal scales of variability, such as regions with steep gradients and urban plumes.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2025
Publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
Maintainer
Identifier 10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/DISCOVERAQ_Texas_Ground_SmithPoint_Data_1
Data Last Modified 2025-09-11
Category Earth Science
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id b7a203c9-0fdd-4a52-9b18-1336033e9e96
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://asdc.larc.nasa.gov/citing-data
Old Spatial "CARTESIAN",{"Boundary":{"Points":{"Latitude":23,"Longitude":-100},{"Latitude":23,"Longitude":-70},{"Latitude":43,"Longitude":-70},{"Latitude":43,"Longitude":-100},{"Latitude":23,"Longitude":-100}}}, Maximum Altitude, 70 m
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 0b842c6ee143051a496bd92fa83ae075d613cf746c4475a3a8c016874d62885d
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial
Temporal 2013-08-27/2013-08-27

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