Lidar Measuremnt on Dust Transport from the Saharan Desert to the Iran Plateau

Abstract

Optical properties of long-range Saharan dust particles transported to the Iran Plateau have been investigated. The results were derived from the measurements of a dual-wavelength Depolarized backscatter/Raman lidar and a Cimel CE318-2 sunphotometer. Observations were performed in Zanjan, Northwest Iran. The backward trajectory analysis show that the lofted dust plumes come from the Saharan desert and travel along Mediterranean Sea and Turkey toward Iran. The lidar ratio within the lofted dust layer has been found with mean values of 50 sr at 532 nm. For the depolarization ratio, mean values of 25% have been found.