Air-pollution monitoring and atmospheric parameter profiling over Athens, Greece, using a compact mobile laser remote sensing system

In this paper we present the basic features of the laser remote sensing (lidar) system located at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. This compact and mobile lidar is in full operation since late 1999. This paper includes basic features of the lidar technique (technical description, temporal and spatial resolution, range etc.), a brief presentation of the instrumentation used and an outline of the algorithms applied to retrieve useful information from the backscattered lidar signals. We also present some examples of aerosol profiling measurements over Athens, which include monitoring of clouds and suspended aerosols (i.e. during Saharan dust and photochemical air pollution events), as well as the evolution of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) over the Greater Athens Area (GAA).