During the Intensive Field Phase (IFP) of the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) lasting from 15 February to 26 March 1999, a large number of pollution outbreaks from India and southeast Asia were observed with a unique six-wavelength aerosol lidar at Maldives International Airport, Hulule (4.1 ¿N, 73.3 ¿E). An example is presented here. Above the polluted marine boundary layer a 3-km deep aerosol layer was advected from the Indian subcontinent. The aerosol optical depths of the marine boundary layer and the free-troposphere layer were approximately 0.2 and 0.4 at 532 nm, respectively. Inversions using spectrally resolved particle backscatter and extinction data indicate an effective particle radius of 0.17 &mgr;m, volume and surface concentrations around 13 &mgr;m3 cm-3 and 600 &mgr;m2 cm-3, respectively, and considerable absorption by the free-tropospheric particles. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union