Characterization of the aerosol type using simultaneous measurements of the lidar ratio and estimations of the single scattering albedo

Lidar measurements of the vertical distribution of the aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficient and the corresponding extinction to backscatter ratio (so-called lidar ratio) at 355 nm have been performed at Thessaloniki, Greece using a Raman lidar system in the frame of the EARLINET for the period 2001–2005. Coincident spectral UV irradiance measurements, total ozone observations and aerosol optical depth estimates were available from a double Brewer spectroradiometer. The retrieval of single scattering albedo employed the Brewer global irradiance measurements and radiative transfer modeling. Vertically averaged values of the lidar ratio ranged from a minimum of 16 sr to a maximum value of 90 sr, while the effective single scattering albedo ranged from 0.78 to 1.00. The mean value of the lidar ratio for the dataset under study was 45.5 ± 21.0 sr while the average value of the single scattering albedo was 0.94 ± 0.05. For the majority of our measurements (80%) the single scattering albedo found to be greater than 0.90. Using additional information from backward trajectory calculations and lidar-derived free tropospheric contribution of aerosols in the columnar aerosol optical depth, it is shown that the combined use of the directly measured lidar ratio, and the indirectly estimated single scattering albedo, leads to a better characterization of the aerosol type probed.

Research Highlights
► Demonstration of a new approach for aerosol characterization.
► Lidar ratio and single scattering albedo relationship.
► Characteristics of aerosol types over Greece in relation to air mass origin.