{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T00:18:02Z","timestamp":1760228282252,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,12]],"date-time":"2022-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1652313600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"frame of the H2020 program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Framework Agreement ECMWF\/COPERNICUS\/2019\/CAMS21b\/CNR","award":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"]}]},{"name":"FCT\u2014Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia","award":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"]}]},{"name":"TOMAQAPA","award":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"]}]},{"name":"CILIFO","award":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["739530","871115","PTDC\/CTAMET\/29678\/2017","0753_CILIFO_5_E"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The atmospheric molecular number density can be obtained from atmospheric temperature and pressure profiles and is a significant input parameter for the inversion of lidar measurements. When measurements of vertical profiles of temperature and pressure are not available, atmospheric models are typically considered a valid alternative option. This paper investigates the influence of different atmospheric models (forecast and reanalysis) on the retrieval of aerosol optical properties (extinction and backscatter coefficients) by applying Raman and elastic-only methods to lidar measurements, to assess their use in lidar data processing. In general, reanalyzes are more accurate than forecasts, but, typically, they are not delivered in time for allowing near-real-time lidar data analysis. However, near-real-time observation is crucial for real-time monitoring of the environment and meteorological studies. The forecast models used in the paper are provided by the Integrated Forecasting System operated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (IFS_ECMWF) and the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS), whereas the reanalysis model is obtained from the fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ReAnalysis v5 (ERA5). The lidar dataset consists of measurements collected from four European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) stations during two intensive measurement campaigns and includes more than 200 cases at wavelengths of 355 nm, 532 nm, and 1064 nm. We present and discuss the results and influence of the forecast and reanalysis models in terms of deviations of the derived aerosol optical properties. The results show that the mean relative deviation in molecular number density is always below \u00b13%, while larger deviations are shown in the derived aerosol optical properties, and the size of the deviation depends on the retrieval method together with the different wavelengths. In general, the aerosol extinction coefficient retrieval is more dependent on the model used than the aerosol backscatter retrievals are. The larger influence on the extinction retrieval is mainly related to the deviation in the gradient of the temperature profile provided by forecast and reanalysis models rather than the absolute deviation of the molecular number density. We found that deviations in extinction were within \u00b15%, with a probability of 83% at 355 nm and 60% at 532 nm. Moreover, for aerosol backscatter coefficient retrievals, different models can have a larger impact when the backscatter coefficient is retrieved with the elastic method than when the backscatter coefficient is calculated using the Raman method at both 355 nm and 532 nm. In addition, the atmospheric aerosol load can also influence the deviations in the aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficients, showing a larger impact under low aerosol loading scenarios.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs14102342","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,12]],"date-time":"2022-05-12T23:08:36Z","timestamp":1652396916000},"page":"2342","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Numerical Weather Predictions and Re-Analysis as Input for Lidar Inversions: Assessment of the Impact on Optical Products"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5344-0128","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuanzu","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China"},{"name":"Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Metodologie per l\u2019Analisi Ambientale (CNR-IMAA), 85050 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5722-3430","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aldo","family":"Amodeo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Metodologie per l\u2019Analisi Ambientale (CNR-IMAA), 85050 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"given":"Ewan J.","family":"O\u2019Connor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Finnish Meteorological Institute, 00560 Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2316-8960","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Holger","family":"Baars","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2334-4055","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniele","family":"Bortoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EaRSLab, ICT Institute of Earth Sciences and Department of Physics, School of Sciences and Technology and IIFA, University of \u00c9vora, 7000-671 Evora, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1601-8286","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qiaoyun","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University Lille, CNRS, UMR 8518-LOA-Laboratoire d\u2019Optique Atmosph\u00e9rique, F-59650 Lille, France"}]},{"given":"Dongsong","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6627-2517","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"D\u2019Amico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Metodologie per l\u2019Analisi Ambientale (CNR-IMAA), 85050 Potenza, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Stocker, T.F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, S.K., and Boschung, J. 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