NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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View a map of the DISCOVER-AQ 2013 California Field Mission. Credit: NASA

2013 San Joaquin Valley, California Campaign Flights: January and February 2013
Flights are scheduled to start January 16 and go through mid-February. A four-engine P-3B turboprop plane from the Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., will carry eight science instruments. A two-engine B200 King Air aircraft from NASA Langley will carry two remote sensors. Sampling will focus on agricultural and vehicle traffic areas extending from Bakersfield to Fresno. The flight path passes over six ground measurement sites operated by the California Air Resources Board and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.



Key Locations for the 2013 California Flight Campaign
Homebase: Palmdale, Calif.
Ground Sites: Bakersfield, Porterville, Hanford, Huron, Tranquility and Fresno, Calif.

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A map showing where the NASA P-3B, a 117-foot aircraft, flew spirals and low-altitude transects as part of the campaign. The P-3B’s flight paths are shown in yellow. Circles indicate locations where the P-3B spiraled either upward or downward reaching as low as 1000 feet. Credit: NASA

2011 Baltimore-Washington, D.C. Campaign Flights: June 27 to July 31, 2011
Two NASA research airplanes flew over northeast Maryland to study urban air quality and help scientists improve their ability to measure ground-level air pollution from space. One of the aircraft, NASA's P-3B, flew at low altitude -- about 1,000 feet. Approximately 14 flights took place between June 27 and July 31, 2011.

The low-altitude P-3B flights were easily viewable along the Interstate 95/Baltimore-Washington Parkway traffic corridor from the Washington Beltway northeast to Baltimore and continuing on to the Delaware State line. The flight path also passed over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis. Each flight followed the same route, shown as a yellow line on the map. The aircraft retraced this route several times during a day's flight, which lasted up to 8 hours.