lidar data format:
The lidar data is saved as .txt file, the first column is aerosol extinction coefficient profile(unit km-1),the second column is veritcial height with a vertical resolution of 0.0075km.The UTC time is identified as the filename, acturally it is five minutes average result since that time.The sampling interval range is 15 minutes.
Due to the lidar overlap factor influence we do not have data below 0.3km,so extinction coefficient below 0.3km is assigned to the value at 0.3km height.Because of the SNR of the lidar system, data below 9km is effective. By integrate the extinction coefficient form 0km to 9km, you can get the AOD in that height range, or you can get AOD of any range within 0-9km.
Because the data is measured by a Mie Lidar, we do not know the lidar ratio, which is assumed to 50Sr in this case, so the AOD we get is less accuracy than the sunphotometer.Anyway the lidar data is synchronized with the sand, especially we have the extinction profile,I think we can still do some good work with the data.