Effective data management for the DISCOVER-AQ airborne field study

DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality) is an airborne study aimed at improving the interpretation of satellite observations to diagnose near-surface conditions relating to air quality. This project will increase fundamental understanding satellite trace gas and aerosol observations and enable the application of satellite data for societal benefit, which is highly relevant to NASA's goals to study the Earth from space. Because of the nature of the project, DISCOVER-AQ is an investigation that involves a wide range of observational assets, including airborne and ground based in-situ and remote sensing observations. It is a broad collaborative study with participants from NASA centers, universities, and research partners from agencies at federal, state and local levels. Therefore, successfully achieving the DISCOVER-AQ science objectives requires a comprehensive and cohesive data management plan to facilitate the sharing and broad use of data to enable research and comply with NASA data policies. This plan governs the science data generation, data exchange between the DISCOVER-AQ science team and its partners, and data transfer to the NASA Langley Research Center's Atmospheric Science Data Center (LaRC ASDC). The DISCOVER-AQ Data Management Plan (DMP) has been developed through a broad collaboration among the DISCOVER-AQ project, NASA LaRC ASDC staff, and NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project. This DMP incorporates procedures that have evolved over more than 20 years of airborne field studies under NASA's Tropospheric Chemistry Program and draws upon experience from collaborations with NOAA, NSF, university, and international partners as well as NASA's experience in managing Earth science data from its various remote sensing missions. To be presented are highlights of the DISCOVER-AQ data management plan, including a brief description of the airborne data products, data flow scheme from airborne instruments to LaRC ASDC, data generation and documentation requirements, metadata and format requirements, and data stewardship and access policies.