DISCOVER-AQ Mission

    A challenge for Earth-observing satellites measuring air quality is to distinguish between pollution high in the atmosphere and that near the surface where people live and breathe. NASA began a multi-year airborne field campaign in 2011 to tackle this challenge.

    The project is called DISCOVER-AQ, which stands for Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality.” NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., is the lead center for the mission.

Mission News

Students at Kingsburg High School in California won the GLOBE Earth Day 2013 Video Competition. Their video featured their collaboration with the DISCOVER-AQ mission.

GLOBE Earth Day Video Competition Winners

Students at Kingsburg High School in Calif. won the GLOBE Earth Day 2013 Video Competition with their video featuring DISCOVER-AQ.

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Know Your Earth 3.0: DISCOVER-AQ

Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality studies pollution where we live ...

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The NASA P-3B made low approaches at local airports, getting as low as 100 feet to make key air quality measurements. Shown here is the Bakersfield regional airport.

Air Quality Research Campaign Concludes in California

The DISCOVER-AQ team completed their second destination in a five-year mission to study the air we breathe.

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Latest Images

Low and Hazy Over Fresno

A photo through the NASA P-3B's cock-pit window as they flew over Fresno, Calif. on Jan. 22, showing a very hazy atmosphere over the area.

Reporter Tim Sheehan of the Fresno Bee took this photo through the NASA P-3B's cock-pit window as they flew over Fresno, Calif. on Jan. 22, showing a very hazy atmosphere over the area. Sheehan ...

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First Flight of the 2013 California Campaign

NASA P-3B during it's first flight of DISCOVER-AQ California 2013.

On January 16, 2013, the DISCOVER-AQ team kicked off the California 2013 campaign with their first science flights and ground measurements in California's Central Valley. DISCOVER-AQ is a field ...

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Map of the California 2013 Campaign

Map of the California 2013 Campaign

Two NASA research planes are flying between Bakersfield and Fresno in January and February 2013 – one as close as 1,000 feet to the ground – to measure air pollution with a number of onboard science ...

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Discover-AQ Mission Updates

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Current DISCOVER-AQ Campaign

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