Satellite remote sensing is studied in this paper for retrieving aerosol parameters, i.e., aerosol optical thickness at 0.5 μm &tgr;0.5, size exponent p, and absorption index &kgr;, from channel 1 and 2 radiances of the NOAA 11 advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) in the Persian Gulf region in the summer of 1991. Results of the remote sensing are compared with ground-based values obtained from solar radiation measurements with a sunphotometer and a pyranometer in Bushehr, Iran. It is found that tuning the calibration coefficients of AVHRR and introduction of a suitable aerosol absorption are needed for a good agreement between satellite-derived and ground-based values of &tgr;0.5. The aerosol absorption index is also retrieved with two methods, i.e., simultaneous analyses with ground-based &tgr;0.5 and p, and the Fraser-Kaufman method. Retrieved values of the aerosol single-scattering albedo are ω≈0.75 and 0.70 from the two methods, respectively, for the Kuwait oil-fire smoke layer. The single scattering albedo of another case, which is regarded as a sand-dust layer, is estimated to be ω≈0.76 with the Fraser-Kaufman method.¿ 1997 American Geophysical Union