The files contain publicly shared datasets. The first folder, “AERONET_Dataset”, provides a summary of African AERONET site observations. It includes five Excel files that contain data screening and grouping results based on AOD, SSA, and chemical composition, as well as the retrieved scattering efficiency factor dataset. Figures Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4a/4c were generated from these files. The subfolder “AERONET_intermediate mode simulation” contains the simulated intermediate-mode size distributions produced using the particle-fragmentation theory. The second folder, “AERONET_MAOD”, contains datasets of intermediate-mode aerosol optical depth (MAOD), derived by separating different modes using lognormal size distributions. The third folder, “Africa_CESM_three_test”, includes CESM-simulated results, matched to the AERONET stations, providing datasets of aerosol optical depth and radiative forcing. Figures Fig. 4b and Fig. 4d were generated from these files.