The decision to reconsider after "major revisions" is done only to provide Referee 3 (who actually suggest "minor revision") a formal opportunity within the system to view the author's revisions. Please consider closely their feedback and respond point-by-point, with particular emphasis on their primary concern of including statistics on CATS AOD data quality and in association with scatter diagrams. This Referee has taken the time to go into the manuscript and annotate various items--please address them in kind. These revisions should lead to a significantly improved manuscript.

Thank you for your efforts to address the detailed Reviewer comments and suggestions. You will be contacted shortly by ACP production editor staff to finalize your accepted manuscript. I personally would also like to thank you for preparing an important contribution to the HAALE-MURI Special Issue. Well done, and congratulations!