Aerosol properties for adust event observed over Cyprus

Abstract

Saharan dust aerosols influence Cyprus due to the cyclone activity all around the Mediterranean. Routine measurements have been performed by the backscatter/depolarization lidar system of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) for the last two years. A case study of Saharan dust aerosols transferred over Eastern Mediterranean, on May 2010 has been selected by the authors for the purpose of this paper. Ground based and satellite passive and active remote sensing observations were used complimentary for the representative evaluation of the dust event. Specifically, CALIOP level-2 data with coincidence ground-based measurements performed by the lidar station at Lemesos, Cyprus were used for the case of 14th of May 2010. The daily backscatter coefficient at 532nm and 1064nm has been compared with the satellite derived CALIPSO data in conjunction with AERONET retrievals, for the first time in Cyprus. It has been found that the aerosol optical properties profiles of the groundbased CUT’s lidar and the CALIOP were in a good agreement, especially within the aerosol dust layers.