Separate retrieval of microphysical characteristics in aerosol fractions from laser sensing data

•An approach is proposed for interpreting the lidar measurements within 355-1064 nm.•Focus has been on the peculiarities of retrieving the modal microphysical parameters.•The refractive index and size distribution function are reconstructed simultaneously.•The ill-posedness of the inverse problem is mainly expressed for coarse fraction.•The algorithms are tested for different empirical models of the distribution function.