A number of global aerosol products of varying quality, strengths, and weaknesses have been generated. Presented here are synthetic analyses with regard to the quality, compatibility, and synergy of two long-term global (1983--2000) aerosol products derived from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). Four essential aerosol parameters, namely, aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from AVHRR under the Global Aerosol Climatology Project (GACP), TOMS AOT, ¿ngstr¿m exponent (AE) from AVHRR, and TOMS aerosol index (AI) are analyzed together with various ancillary data sets on meteorological fields, ocean color, and ground-based AOT measurements. While the two satellite products reveal some common features, significant discrepancies exist. Reflectances measured at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths from the two sensors are incompatible in terms of the magnitude of AE computed from AOT derived from the two channels. The spatial distributions of the aerosol products from AVHRR and TOMS are complimentary in revealing different aspects of aerosol characteristics. In-depth analyses were carried out over several regions under the influence of different types of aerosols such as biomass burning, dust, sea salt, air pollution, and their mixtures. A classification algorithm was developed to identify dominant types of aerosols around the globe using aerosol products from the two instruments. Aerosol type information is used to develop and apply relationships between the AVHRR AOT and the TOMS AOT. The latter was used to extend the AOT at 0.55 ¿m over land around the globe. Comparisons of monthly mean AOTs with AERONET monthly mean AOTs showed a general agreement to within an estimated error range of ¿0.08 ¿ 0.20τ. Finally, a comparison between the estimated AOT with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) AOT over land showed good agreement in terms of magnitude and seasonality, suggesting a means of bridging past and current AOT estimations.