A compact and rugged eye safe UV Lidar, the EZ Lidar™, has been developed by LEOSPHERE (France) to study and investigate structural and optical properties of clouds and aerosols continuously, thanks to the strong know-how in the field of air quality measurements and cloud observation and analysis. EZ Lidar™ has been validated by different remote or in-situ instruments as Micropulse Type-4 Lidar or the Lidar Nuages Aérosols (LNA) at the Laboratoire de Metereologie Dynamique (LMD), in France and in several intercomparison campaigns (LISAIR'05, AMMA ASTAR/IPY TIGERZ'08, and ICOS). Outdoor and unattended use capabilities of the EZ Lidar™ added to its measurements performances define then this instrument as a good candidate for deployment into growing global aerosol and cloud monitoring networks and research measurement campaigns. © Sociedad Española de Óptica.