This study focuses on the analysis of aerosol hygroscopic growth during the Sierra Nevada Lidar AerOsol Profiling Experiment (SLOPE I) campaign by using the synergy of active and passive remote sensors at the ACTRIS Granada station and in situ instrumentation at a mountain station (Sierra Nevada, SNS). To this end, a methodology based on simultaneous measurements of aerosol profiles from an EARLINET multi-wavelength Raman lidar (RL) and relative humidity (RH) profiles obtained from a multi-instrumental approach is used. This approach is based on the combination of calibrated water vapor mixing ratio (r) profiles from RL and continuous temperature profiles from a microwave radiometer (MWR) for obtaining RH profiles with a reasonable vertical and temporal resolution. This methodology is validated against the traditional one that uses RH from co-located radiosounding (RS) measurements, obtaining differences in the hygroscopic growth parameter (γ) lower than 5 % between the methodology based on RS and the one presented here. Additionally, during the SLOPE I campaign the remote sensing methodology used for aerosol hygroscopic growth studies has been checked against Mie calculations of aerosol hygroscopic growth using in situ measurements of particle number size distribution and submicron chemical composition measured at SNS. The hygroscopic case observed during SLOPE I showed an increase in the particle backscatter coefficient at 355 and 532 nm with relative humidity (RH ranged between 78 and 98 %), but also a decrease in the backscatter-related Ångström exponent (AE) and particle linear depolarization ratio (PLDR), indicating that the particles became larger and more spherical due to hygroscopic processes. Vertical and horizontal wind analysis is performed by means of a co-located Doppler lidar system, in order to evaluate the horizontal and vertical dynamics of the air masses. Finally, the Hänel parameterization is applied to experimental data for both stations, and we found good agreement on γ measured with remote sensing (${\mathit{\gamma }}^{\mathrm{532}}=\mathrm{0.48}\pm \mathrm{0.01}$ and ${\mathit{\gamma }}^{\mathrm{355}}=\mathrm{0.40}\pm \mathrm{0.01}$ ) with respect to the values calculated using Mie theory (${\mathit{\gamma }}^{\mathrm{532}}=\mathrm{0.53}\pm \mathrm{0.02}$ and ${\mathit{\gamma }}^{\mathrm{355}}=\mathrm{0.45}\pm \mathrm{0.02}$ ), with relative differences between measurements and simulations lower than 9 % at 532 nm and 11 % at 355 nm.

This study presents a synergistic approach to the study of the aerosol optical and microphysical properties measured in La Palma, Spain, during the 2021 eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (from 19 September to 13 December 2021). This study aims to characterize the different phases of the volcanic eruption using the spatio-temporal evolution of the event together with the mass concentration quantification of four different atmospheric layers. The impact of the plume’s pathway that reached the South of France is analyzed. Here, passive and active remote sensors were used, namely CL51 and CL61 ceilometers and AERONET sunphotometers. The attenuated backscattering ranged from 0.8 to 9.1 × 10${}^{-6}$ (msr)${}^{-1}$ and the volume depolarization ratio measured nearby the volcano was up to 0.3. The ash plume remained within the first 4 km agl, with intense episodes that reached mean aerosol optical depth values of up to 0.4. Thirteen study cases were selected where coarse mode was dominant over fine mode. For the data selection, the fine and coarse lidar ratios found were 3.9 ± 0.8 and 21.0 ± 3.8 sr in the north and 6.9 ± 1.8 and 30.1 ± 10.3 sr in the south. The ash mass concentration reached moderate levels with maximum values of up to 313.7 $\mathsf{\mu }$gm${}^{-3}$.

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) is the lowermost region of troposphere and is endowed with turbulent characteristics, which can have mechanical and/or thermodynamic origins. This behavior gives this layer great importance, mainly in studies about pollutant dispersion and weather forecasting. However, the instruments usually applied in studies of turbulence in the PBL have limitations in spatial resolution (anemometer towers) or temporal resolution (instrumentation aboard an aircraft). Ground-based remote sensing, both active and passive, offers an alternative for studying the PBL. In this study we show the capabilities of combining different remote sensing systems (microwave radiometer – MWR, Doppler lidar – DL – and elastic lidar – EL) for retrieving a detailed picture on the PBL turbulent features. The statistical moments of the high frequency distributions of the vertical wind velocity, derived from DL, and of the backscattered coefficient, derived from EL, are corrected by two methodologies, namely first lag correction and $-\mathrm{2}/\mathrm{3}$ law correction. The corrected profiles, obtained from DL data, present small differences when compared with the uncorrected profiles, showing the low influence of noise and the viability of the proposed methodology. Concerning EL, in addition to analyzing the influence of noise, we explore the use of different wavelengths that usually include EL systems operated in extended networks, like the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET), Latin American Lidar Network (LALINET), NASA Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) or Skyradiometer Network (SKYNET). In this way we want to show the feasibility of extending the capability of existing monitoring networks without strong investments or changes in their measurements protocols. Two case studies were analyzed in detail, one corresponding to a well-defined PBL and another corresponding to a situation with presence of a Saharan dust lofted aerosol layer and clouds. In both cases we discuss results provided by the different instruments showing their complementarity and the precautions to be applied in the data interpretation. Our study shows that the use of EL at 532 nm requires a careful correction of the signal using the first lag time correction in order to get reliable turbulence information on the PBL.