A new aerosol parameterization was developed and implemented for operational use with the BRASIL-SR model. The goal is to improve the assessment of solar energy resources in Brazil. Optical properties of the aerosols from burning biomass were obtained using software package OPAC and are in good agreement with previous field measurements made in Brazil. Three different mixture ratios of black carbon were used to cover the full range of typical measured values. The atmospheric transport model SMOKE provided the aerosol profile. An evaluating period of I I days in August/1995 and ground measurements from six sites situated in Amazon region was used to validate the results. The global solar irradiation estimates obtained with new aerosol parameterization, presented smaller mean bias error in all ground sites. The correlation among estimates and measured values for surface global solar irradiation improved about 2.5 times by adopting an aerosol composition with 5% of black carbon. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.