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<abstract xmlns="http://eprints.org/ep2/data/2.0">A strong dust event over Abastumani,Georgia, duringMay 2009 was studied using&#13;
light detection and ranging (lidar), satellite and sun photometric measurements.&#13;
High aerosol optical depth (AOD) values (0.45–0.57) at 500 nm were measured&#13;
over the closest Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) site (Erdemli, Turkey),&#13;
whereas over Georgia, the AOD measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging&#13;
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was about 0.9 at 550 nm. The AERONET data analysis&#13;
showed a mean aerosol effective radius of about 2.5 μm, whereas the mean value&#13;
of the Ångström exponent (α) (wavelength pair 440/870 nm) was smaller than 1,&#13;
indicating the dominance of large aerosols. The aerosol lidar over Abastumani&#13;
showed the existence of a strong particle load from the near ground up to a height&#13;
of 3.5 km. The BSC-DREAM8b forecast model showed that the dust aerosols travelled&#13;
from the Saharan and the Arabic deserts to the studied area, even reaching&#13;
southern Russia, covering a total distance of about 5500 km, in the height region&#13;
from about 2 to 11.5 km.</abstract>
