We investigate the effects of various types of atmospheric aerosols on satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) retrievals. The association between aerosol presence identified by the Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) aerosol index (AI) and systematic errors in Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Pathfinder SST retrievals is explored. We find a significant increase in systematic PFSST errors in the presence of dust aerosols. Average errors range from 0.34 ¿C for AI values between 0.5 and 1.0 to 1.74 ¿C for AI≥1.5. The bias is introduced by the AVHRR channel brightness temperature difference (T4-T5) which is intended to correct for atmospheric absorption normally due primarily to water vapor. Our study shows that (T4-T5) is sensitive to the dust aerosols (i.e., TOMS AI values). In contrast, smoke aerosols do not seem to have a significant effect on PFSST errors. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union