Vertical profiles of particle backscattering coefficient at 355, 532 and 1064 nm measured by the lidar Raman system BASIL have been compared with simulated particle backscatter profiles obtained through a Mie scattering code based on the use of simultaneous and almost co-located profiles provided by an air-borne optical particle counter. Measurements were carried out during dedicated flights of the French research aircraft ATR42 in the frame of the European Facility for Airborne Research (EUFAR) Project WaLiTemp, as part of the Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment – Special Observation Period 1 (HyMeX-SOP1). Results from two selected case studies are reported and discussed in the paper and two slightly different analysis approaches are illustrated and applied to the dataset. Results reveal a good agreement between measured and simulated multi-wavelength particle backscattering profiles. Specifically, simulated and measured particle backscattering profiles at 355 and 532 nm are found to deviate less than 15 % (mean value = 7 %) and 50 % (mean value = 30 %), respectively, when considering the presence of a Continental/Urban aerosol component. Reported results reveal a good agreement between measured and simulated multi-wavelength particle backscatter profiles, which ultimately testifies lidar ability to infer the aerosol type from these measurements.