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Remote Sensing
Volume 17
Issue 21
10.3390/rs17213607
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Article

Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing Estimations of High-Altitude Aerosol Transport During Saharan Dust Events Based on Laser Remote Sensing Techniques (CLIMPACT Campaign 2021, Greece)

by
Alexandros Papayannis
1,2,*,
Ourania Soupiona
1,3,
Marilena Gidarakou
1,
Christina-Anna Papanikolaou
1,4,
Dimitra Anagnou
1,
Romanos Foskinis
1,2,5,
Maria Mylonaki
1,6,
Krystallia Mandelia
1 and
Stavros Solomos
7
1
Laser Remote Sensing Unit, Department of Physics, National and Technical University of Athens, 15780 Zografou, Greece
2
Laboratory of Atmospheric Processes and their Impacts (LAPI), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
3
Raymetrics S.A., Spartis 32 & Fil. Eterias, GR-14452 Metamorfosis, Greece
4
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-Istituto di Metodologie per l’Analisi Ambientale CNR-IMAA, 85050 Potenza, Italy
5
Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
6
Meteorological Institute, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80539 Munich, Germany
7
Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens, 10680 Athens, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(21), 3607; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17213607 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 20 September 2025 / Revised: 24 October 2025 / Accepted: 27 October 2025 / Published: 31 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Remote Sensing)
Versions Notes

Abstract

We present two case studies of tropospheric aerosol transport observed over the high-altitude Helmos observatory (1800–2300 m a.s.l.) in Greece during September 2021. Two cases were linked to Saharan dust intrusions, of which one was additionally linked to a mixture of biomass-burning and continental aerosols. Aerosol vertical profiles from the AIAS mobile backscatter/depolarization lidar (532 nm, NTUA) revealed distinct aerosol layers between 2 and 6 km a.s.l., with particle linear depolarization ratio values of up to 0.30–0.40, indicative of mineral dust. The elevated location of Helmos allows lidar measurements in the free troposphere, minimizing planetary boundary layer influence and improving the attribution of long-range transported aerosols. Radiative impacts were quantified using the LibRadtran model. For the 27 September dust outbreak, simulations showed strong shortwave absorption within 3–7 km, peaking at 5–6 km, with surface forcing reaching −25 W m−2 and TOA forcing around −12 W m−2, thus, implying a net cooling by 13 W m−2 on the Earth’s atmosphere system. In contrast, the 30 September mixed aerosol case produced substantial solar attenuation, a surface heating rate of 2.57 K day−1, and a small positive forcing aloft (~0.05 K day−1). These results emphasize the contrasting radiative roles of dust and smoke over the Mediterranean and the importance of high-altitude observatories for constraining aerosol–radiation interactions.
Keywords: lidar; aerosols; dust; Sahara; biomass burning; CLIMPACT; HYSPLIT; MODIS; Greece lidar; aerosols; dust; Sahara; biomass burning; CLIMPACT; HYSPLIT; MODIS; Greece

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MDPI and ACS Style

Papayannis, A.; Soupiona, O.; Gidarakou, M.; Papanikolaou, C.-A.; Anagnou, D.; Foskinis, R.; Mylonaki, M.; Mandelia, K.; Solomos, S. Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing Estimations of High-Altitude Aerosol Transport During Saharan Dust Events Based on Laser Remote Sensing Techniques (CLIMPACT Campaign 2021, Greece). Remote Sens. 2025, 17, 3607. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17213607

AMA Style

Papayannis A, Soupiona O, Gidarakou M, Papanikolaou C-A, Anagnou D, Foskinis R, Mylonaki M, Mandelia K, Solomos S. Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing Estimations of High-Altitude Aerosol Transport During Saharan Dust Events Based on Laser Remote Sensing Techniques (CLIMPACT Campaign 2021, Greece). Remote Sensing. 2025; 17(21):3607. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17213607

Chicago/Turabian Style

Papayannis, Alexandros, Ourania Soupiona, Marilena Gidarakou, Christina-Anna Papanikolaou, Dimitra Anagnou, Romanos Foskinis, Maria Mylonaki, Krystallia Mandelia, and Stavros Solomos. 2025. "Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing Estimations of High-Altitude Aerosol Transport During Saharan Dust Events Based on Laser Remote Sensing Techniques (CLIMPACT Campaign 2021, Greece)" Remote Sensing 17, no. 21: 3607. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17213607

APA Style

Papayannis, A., Soupiona, O., Gidarakou, M., Papanikolaou, C.-A., Anagnou, D., Foskinis, R., Mylonaki, M., Mandelia, K., & Solomos, S. (2025). Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing Estimations of High-Altitude Aerosol Transport During Saharan Dust Events Based on Laser Remote Sensing Techniques (CLIMPACT Campaign 2021, Greece). Remote Sensing, 17(21), 3607. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17213607

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