Characteristics of dust aerosols inferred from lidar depolarization measurements at two wavelengths

Lidar depolarization measurements were performed simultaneously at two wavelengths (532 and 1064 nm) in an Asian dust event. The observed particle depolarization ratio for 1064 nm was generally larger than that for 532 nm, and it was found that the mixing of Asian dust and other spherical aerosols must be taken into account. A simple two-component theory considering two types of aerosol (dust and spherical aerosols) was developed and applied to the observed data. The mixing ratio of dust and the backscatter-related Angstrom exponents for dust and spherical aerosols was derived. These parameters can be used to infer characteristics of the aerosols and the mixed states. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.