Synergy of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Ground-based remote sensing for spaceborne lidar calibration and validation

The Cyprus Institute has acquired expertise during the ASKOS campaign, for the Cal/Val of Aeolus, through the deployment of our UAVs in Cabo Verde, equipped with aerosol and cloud instruments (optical particle counters, backscatter sonde, and impactors for dust sample collection). The UAVs reached altitudes up to ~5,000 m above sea level, and measured the height-resolved particle size-distribution and the mineralogy of airborne dust, and were co-located with ground-based remote sensing activities. These observational platforms will also be deployed for the Cal/Val of EarthCARE, expected to be launched this year, together with our ground-based lidar, sunphotometers and ceilometers. In this presentation, I will present these efforts, discuss the strategic location of Cyprus for aerosol studies, and highlight the great potential coming from the collaboration with the nearby remote sensing facilities of the ERATOSTHENES centre of excellence.