Optical Properties of Canadian Biomass Burning Particles Over Europe Observed with Calipso and Ground-Based Lidar Systems

Abstract

A long-lasting biomass burning event affected Europe from 27 August to 3 September 2018. The biomass burning aerosol layers were observed with ground- and space-based lidars in heights ranged between 2-7 km (a.s.l.). The mean backscatter coefficient for the ground-based stations ranged between 0.29 and 1.51 Mm-1sr-1, while the CALIPSO retrieved values ranged between 0.43 and 1.83 Mm-1sr-1. Moreover, the mean Ångström exponent (AEb) values, relevant to backscatter, ranged from 0.83 to 1.04 for the aforementioned lidar stations. At the same time, the mean AEb values obtained from CALIPSO ranged between 0.17 and 1.89. The mean particle depolarization ratio ranged between 0.037 and 0.080.