DISCOVER-AQ California Deployment Porterville Ground Site Data

DISCOVERAQ_California_Ground_Porterville_Data contains data collected at the Porterville ground site during the California (San Joaquin Valley) deployment of NASA's DISCOVER-AQ field study. This data product contains data for only the California 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).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated August 25, 2026, 10:12 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 15:25 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 9d702a63-305c-4093-90f4-3b89a96b85cf
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/DISCOVERAQ_California_Ground_Porterville_Data_1
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-08-17T22:16:02Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash a2142d996656e6cba64736acb34db7831bf209f8624694cee604d74a7b4f79af
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN", [{"WestBoundingCoordinate": -119.16, "EastBoundingCoordinate": -118.95, "SouthBoundingCoordinate": 35.93, "NorthBoundingCoordinate": 36.14}]], Maximum Altitude, 200 m
temporal 2013-01-09/2013-02-19
theme {"Earth Science"}