This paper presents the results of research, begun in 1992, into the determination of aerosol dynamics in the marine boundary layer under various hydrometeorological conditions by means of the lidar method. By employing several wavelengths the lidar-obtained optical extinction provides very accurate information about the size distribution of aerosols as well as their concentrations under various weather conditions and at different altitudes above the sea surface. It was demonstrated that in the marine boundary layer over the breaker zones of the southern Baltic Sea optical extinction depends on the method of calculation and wind direction as well as altitude above the sea surface. The results provided valuable inputs for investigations of the physical processes involved, as well as an important data set to use for the development of modelling of aerosol types and their dynamics in the coastal areas of the southern Baltic Sea.