Raman lidar observations of a Saharan dust outbreak event: Characterization of the dust optical properties and determination of particle size and microphysical parameters

► Dust size and microphysical parameters determined from multi-wavelength lidar data. ► Application of a retrieval scheme using kernel functions for spheroidal particles. ► Lidar measurements compared with simultaneous photometer and literature data. ► Measurements reveal a partial hygroscopic behaviour of the sounded dust particles. ► Results allow to identify the deliquescence point and to compute the growth factor.