Lidar profiling of aerosol optical properties from Paris to Lake Baikal (Siberia)

A groundbreaking lidar study revealed distinct aerosol optical properties along a 10,000 km route from Paris to Lake Baikal, highlighting significant differences between European and Siberian aerosols. The research identified that Russian urban aerosols, particularly in cities like Ulan-Ude, exhibit higher particle depolarization ratios (PDR) (>2%) compared to Europe (<1%), likely due to terrigenous aerosol lifting by traffic. Biomass burning layers from southern Russia showed lidar ratio (LR) values ranging from 65 to 107 sr and PDR between 3% and 4%. Additionally, desert dust aerosols from the Caspian and Aral seas regions were characterized for the first time, with LR of 43 ± 14 sr and PDR of 23 ± 2%, extending over 2300 km and lasting approximately six days. The study used a mobile lidar equipped with N2-Raman and depolarization channels to profile aerosol optical properties in the low and middle troposphere, providing unprecedented insights into aerosol distribution and characteristics across this vast region.

Dieudonné, E., Chazette, P., Marnas, F., Totems, J., & Shang, X. (2015). Lidar profiling of aerosol optical properties from Paris to Lake Baikal (Siberia). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 15(9), 5007–5026. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5007-2015