CHARACTERIZATION OF VERTICAL PROFILES OF AEROSOL EXTINCTION COEFFICIENT ABOVE GREATER BELGRADE AREA, BASED ON CALIOP DATA

Information on the vertical distribution of atmospheric aerosols is essential for understanding their role in climate processes and contribution to air pollution. These profiles can be retrieved from both ground-based and satellite lidar instruments. CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization), onboard CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations), is a two-wavelength polarization-sensitive lidar that provides vertically-resolved aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficients at 532 and 1064 nm. In this study, we use Level 2, Version 4.51 CALIOP aerosol profile products for the period 2015–2019, in the region of 44–45° N and 20–21° E, covering the greater Belgrade area. This area has seasonal variations in aerosol presence with high surface pollution during colder months and influence of long-range transported aerosols, such as Saharan dust, in warmer periods. Our analysis is based on cloud-free profiles that meet quality control criteria used for CALIOP Level 3 aerosol profile data. Data are grouped by season (spring–summer and fall–winter) and time of day (day and night) to investigate the impact of different aerosol sources and meteorological conditions. We examine the vertical distribution of aerosols, their contribution to total aerosol optical depth (AOD) at different altitudes, and the influence of relative humidity on extinction coefficients.