Two NASA aircraft equipped with scientific instruments are flying over the Houston area throughout September 2013 as part of a multi-year airborne science mission to help scientists better understand how to measure and forecast air quality from space. The aircraft are part of NASA's five-year DISCOVER-AQ study, which stands for Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality. This two-engine B200 King Air aircraft, shown on the tarmac at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., collects data for the DISCOVER-AQ study looking downward from an altitude of 26,000 feet. The plane's instruments look down at the Earth's surface, much like a satellite, and measure particulate and gaseous air pollution. Image Credit: NASA #discoveryaq #flying #flight #nasa #airquality #science #airbornescience #pollution #environment #smog