Articles | Volume 10, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4995-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4995-2017
Research article
 | 
20 Dec 2017
Research article |  | 20 Dec 2017

GARRLiC and LIRIC: strengths and limitations for the characterization of dust and marine particles along with their mixtures

Alexandra Tsekeri, Anton Lopatin, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Julia Igloffstein, Nikolaos Siomos, Stavros Solomos, Panagiotis Kokkalis, Ronny Engelmann, Holger Baars, Myrto Gratsea, Panagiotis I. Raptis, Ioannis Binietoglou, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos Kalivitis, Giorgos Kouvarakis, Nikolaos Bartsotas, George Kallos, Sara Basart, Dirk Schuettemeyer, Ulla Wandinger, Albert Ansmann, Anatoli P. Chaikovsky, and Oleg Dubovik

Abstract. The Generalized Aerosol Retrieval from Radiometer and Lidar Combined data algorithm (GARRLiC) and the LIdar-Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) provide the opportunity to study the aerosol vertical distribution by combining ground-based lidar and sun-photometric measurements. Here, we utilize the capabilities of both algorithms for the characterization of Saharan dust and marine particles, along with their mixtures, in the south-eastern Mediterranean during the CHARacterization of Aerosol mixtures of Dust and Marine origin Experiment (CHARADMExp). Three case studies are presented, focusing on dust-dominated, marine-dominated and dust–marine mixing conditions. GARRLiC and LIRIC achieve a satisfactory characterization for the dust-dominated case in terms of particle microphysical properties and concentration profiles. The marine-dominated and the mixture cases are more challenging for both algorithms, although GARRLiC manages to provide more detailed microphysical retrievals compared to AERONET, while LIRIC effectively discriminates dust and marine particles in its concentration profile retrievals. The results are also compared with modelled dust and marine concentration profiles and surface in situ measurements.

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Short summary
The Generalized Aerosol Retrieval from Radiometer and Lidar Combined data algorithm (GARRLiC) and the LIdar-Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) provide the opportunity to study the aerosol vertical distribution by combining ground-based lidar and sun-photometric measurements. Here, we utilize the capabilities of both algorithms for the characterization of Saharan dust and marine particles, along with their mixtures, in the south-eastern Mediterranean.