Desert dust lidar ratios

This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in ACP if available. Abstract Four years (2010–2013) of observations with polarization lidar and sun/sky photometer at the combined European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) site of Limassol (34.7 • N, 33 • E), Cyprus, were used to compare extinction-to-backscatter ratios (lidar ratios) for desert dust from Middle East 5 deserts and the Sahara. The complex data analysis scheme is presented. The quality of the retrieval is checked within a case study by comparing the results with respective Raman lidar solutions for particle backscatter, extinction, and lidar ratio. The applied combined lidar/photometer retrievals corroborate recent findings regarding the difference between Middle East and Saharan desert dust lidar ratios. We found values 10 from 44–65 sr with a mean value of 52.7 sr for Saharan dust and from 35–46 sr with a mean value of 41.1 sr for Middle East dust. The presented data analysis, however, also demonstrates the difficulties in identifying the optical properties of dust even during outbreak situations in the presence of complex aerosol mixtures of desert dust, marine particles, fire smoke, and anthropogenic haze.