The daily and monthly averaged AOD values for the selected sites and time period are tested in the models and the resulting GHI (Global Horizontal Irradiance) and DNI (Direct Normal Irradiance) are compared giving a good representation of different climate zones (Tab. Both models use the same clear-sky model (simplified SOLIS by Ineichen 200X) and they use multispectral satellite data for cloud index calculation (Cebecauer et al. This data set offers new possibilities for improvement of solar calculation schemes and it has been implemented in SolarGIS in late In this paper we compare several options of using AOD in SUNY and SolarGIS solar radiation models which process Meteosat and GOES satellite data. It represents the time period from year 2003 to the present time. The database is operationally calculated by ECMWF and provides several atmospheric data products with a spatial resolution of 1.15 arc-degree and a time step of 6 hours. The continuity of the calculation is secured by the ongoing project MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition & Climate). In 2010, European consortium working within the project GEMS and lead by ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast) introduced a first version of the new aerosol database. Introduction Monthly data of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) or Linke turbidity are used in the satellite-based solar radiation models until recently, which is given by limited data availability. 1 COMPARING PERFORMANCE OF SOLARGIS AND SUNY SATELLITE MODELS USING MONTHLY AND DAILY AEROSOL DATA Tomas Cebecauer 1, Richard Perez 2 and Marcel Suri 1 1 GeoModel Solar, Bratislava (Slovakia) 2 State University of New York, Albany, NY (USA) 1.