Aerosol Characterization by Means of PollyXT Raman Lidar at South Africa, India and Finland

Abstract

A multi-wavelength Raman lidar PollyXT supplied by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) is operated remotely at Finland since November 2012. In addition the lidar performed measurements in two long-term aerosol experimental campaigns, one close to New Delhi in India (March 2008--March 2009) and one at Elandsfontein about 150 km from Johannesburg in South Africa (December 2009--January 2011). The selected Raman lidar data obtained over these periods have been analyzed. We study the seasonal behavior of vertical profiles of intensive and extensive optical properties at the different measurement sites. The range of the retrieved aerosol profiles were studied in terms of different aerosol sources as well as in differences in the mixing state of aerosols.