Theoretical derivation of aerosol lidar ratio using Mie theory for CALIOP-CALIPSO and OPAC aerosol models

The extinction-to-backscattering ratio, popularly known as lidar (light detection and ranging) ratio of atmospheric aerosols is an important optical property, which is essential to retrieve the extinction profiles of atmospheric aerosols. Lidar satellite observations can provide the global coverage of atmospheric aerosols along with their vertical extent. NASA's Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) onÃáboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite is the only space-based platform available, so far, that provides the vertical profiles of extinction due to atmospheric aerosols. A physics-based theoretical approach is presented in the present paper that estimates lidar ratio values for CALIPSO aerosol models, which can be used as inputs to determine the extinction profiles of aerosols using CALIPSO data. The developed methodology was also qualified by comparing it with the lidar ratio values derived using AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) datasets. Lidar ratio values for CALIPSO aerosol models were estimated in the range of 38.72 to 85.98Çësr at 532Çënm, whereas at 1064Çënm lidar ratio varied between 20.11 to 71.11Çësr depending upon the aerosol type and their size distributions.