Long-Term Aerosol Profiling over Albania and the Adriatic Sea with Satellite and Ground-Based Lidars

Vertically resolved aerosol characterization is crucial for assessing the impact of aerosols on radiation, cloud formation, and climate. Atmospheric aerosol particles exhibit significant spatial and temporal variability, making long–term observations essential for understanding these variations and developing an aerosol climatology. We conducted, for the first time, long–term lidar measurements in Albania during 2022–2023 using a ground–based Raman lidar. In this study, we evaluate aerosol extinction profiles, and mass concentration profiles using 15 years of Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) data and one year of ground–based Raman lidar measurements. We present seasonal patterns of total, dust, and non-dust contributions. Additionally, we analyze monthly AOD variations over a 15–year period from CALIPSO and a one–year period from POLLY (POrtabLe Lidar sYstem). Along with aerosol climatology, the air mass cluster backward trajectories by means of HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) are shown as seasonally means for a 10–year period. The maximum extinction coefficient retrieved by CALIPSO in the near-surface layer ranges from 80 to 100 Mm⁻¹. In comparison, POLLY observations at 300 m altitude indicate maximum extinction values between 75 and 125 Mm⁻¹. The maximum height of the aerosol layer is detected between 8 and 10 km. Wildfire smoke layers were identified up to 10 km height during the summer season. Strong Saharan dust outbreaks, with mass concentrations up to 300 µg m⁻³, and moderate events, with concentrations around 100 µg m⁻³, are presented through two case studies and analyzed in detail. The highest AOD values are observed during summer, specifically in August, reaching approximately 0.26 for CALIPSO and 0.19 for POLLY. In contrast, the lowest values occur in winter. For POLLY, the minimum AOD is recorded in December at 0.053, while for CALIOP, the lowest values are around 0.1, observed in December and January. HYSPLIT backward trajectories cluster analysis indicates regional aerosol transport primarily from the Balkans and Italy, along with long-range transport from Western Europe and North America.