Microphysical aerosol properties retrieved from combined lidar and sun photometer measurements

To assess information about the optical, microphysical, and radiative properties of aerosol particles the lidar technique and sun photometers are commonly used. Information that result from both lidar and sun photometer data can provide a distinct image of the vertical aerosol properties. The algorithm developed at the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Science of Belarus (IPNASB) uses lidar measurements at the three wavelengths 355, 532, and 1064 nm and mean backscatter and extinction coefficients retrieved from radiometric data to obtain profiles of fine-mode and coarse-mode concentrations. Within the master thesis the IPNASB algorithm was tested for specific aerosol situations. Three cases are considered representing Saharan dust, smoke and industrial aerosol from East Europe, and volcanic aerosol from the Eyjafjallaj\u7fokull eruption. The retrieved microphysical aerosol properties are in good to acceptable agreement with findings of well-established methods