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Abstract
The impact of aerosols on radiation processes and hence their climatic effects are not yet sufficiently understood. But the investigation of the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols especially in the free troposphere is one very important step to a better knowledge of their influence.
Measurements with lidar enable vertically resolved investigations of the aerosol concentration. In combination with transport models the lidar measurements give information about the origin and transport of aerosols.
For this work measurements of the backscatter and extinction coefficients performed with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on board of the CALIPSO satellite are investigated. Observations from 2006 to 2009 are analysed with regard to aerosols in the boundary layer as well as in the free troposphere over different sites in Portugal. Portugal is appropriate for the observation of different relatively pure aerosol types, as marine aerosol from the Atlantic Ocean, desert dust from the Sahara or anthropogenic induced aerosol from the European continent.
HYSPLIT-trajectories are used for the classification of the observed aerosols regarding their origin and the transport path. Geometrical properties of free tropospheric aerosol layers and the boundary layer are determined from the CALIPSO data. Furthermore, the backscatter and extinction coefficients are examined and a characterisation of the different aerosol types is done. Vertical profiles of the backscatter and extinction coefficients will be presented for several transport paths in correspondence to different predominant aerosol types. Similarities and differences will be shown for certain flow patterns.