Perspectives of the Explicit Retrieval of the Complex Refractive Index of Aerosols from Optical Data Taken with Lidar

Abstract

We developed an explicit approach for the retrieval of the complex refractive index from optical data, i.e. backscatter and extinction coefficients measured with lidar. In this approach we assume that we know the particle size distributions as well as the optical data. On the basis of this approach we carried out numerical simulations in order to test the uncertainty of the retrieval of the complex refractive index in dependence of the combination of extinction and backscatter coefficients, the measurement wavelengths and measurement errors.