Aerosol layers characterization in the Eastern Mediterranean: Long-term lidar observations over Limassol, Cyprus

Long term continuous vertically resolved aerosol measurements were performed by lidar in Limassol, Cyprus. Observations with the multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar PollyXT were conducted during CyCARE (Cyprus Cloud Aerosol and Precipitation EXperiment) from October 2016 to March 2018 as well as permanently since October 2020 at the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence in Limassol, Cyprus. Co-located with the lidar, a sun photometer was also operated. During the 18-month measurement campaign, and the 3 years of continuous measurements, aerosol layers originated by different aerosol sources were detected frequently from ground to the cirrus level height. In this study, an overview of the measurement period is given. A detailed statistical analysis of the defined aerosol layers was performed to give information about sources, frequency, seasonality, and geometrical properties of the aerosol layers advected Cyprus providing for the first time a complete picture of aerosol vertical distribution over Cyprus.