Unique capabilities of complex Raman lidar instruments at Remote Sensing Laboratory of Institute of Geophysics, allow for conducting quasi-continuous measurements of atmospheric aerosol and cloud properties. Qualitative information on vertical structure of atmosphere, from almost ground-surface up to mid-stratosphere, is evaluated in terms of aerosol/cloud abundance, in relation to atmospheric anisotropy and water wapour mixing ratio. High quality lidar signals, regarded as a mathematical system of 12 equations in a 3-dim domain of time-height-wavelength, allow to obtain profiles of aerosol optical properties, such as particle extinction and backsacattering coefficients, particle depolarization ratios, Angstrom exponent, aerosol optical depth. The derived optical properties, treated as an input for applying mathematical inversion techniques with regularization, allow to estimate at certain layers of interest the micro-physical characterization of aerosol particles, including particle size distribution, complex refractive index, and even their concentrations. Based on the mentioned above parameters, influence and modifications of aerosols of natural (e.g. biomass burning, mineral dust) and anthropogenic origin, advected from long-range distances to Warsaw are studied.

During the seminar, I shall introduce the holistic approach to the lidar research I conducted over last 10 years, including infrastructure developments for establishing  the Remote Sensing Laboratory, major research goals and achievements, as well as an outlook for future activities.