Herein, an ultraviolet dual-wavelength lidar was developed for the detection of atmospheric aerosols in the troposphere. The Nd∶YAG laser emitting beams of 355 and 266 nm at a frequency of 10 Hz were used as a light source by the dual-wavelength lidar. This dual-wavelength lidar achieved fine separation and extraction of the Mie scattering signal at ultraviolet wavelengths. Furthermore, it was not affected by the solar background light when 266-nm signal was used to measure the optical characteristics of the aerosol. The signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the actual detection were compared with the simulation results at two wavelengths. Findings indicate that the SNR of 355-nm signal was lower during daytime detection; however, the SNR of 266-nm signal was lower during night-time detection. These results were consistent with theoretical calculations. The detection height of 266-nm signal can reach 2 km during daytime and that of 355-nm signal can reach 5 km during night-time upon analyzing the data of SNR of 10. Atmospheric observations were conducted using the proposed dual-wavelength lidar. The ozone concentration, aerosol characteristics, and extinction coefficient were studied and analyzed on hazy and sunny days. Moreover, the influence of ozone concentration on the inversion extinction coefficient and Angstrom index was analyzed. Results show that a greater ozone concentration corresponds to a larger inversion error of the extinction coefficient. The extinction coefficient of the aerosol in hazy weather was larger than that in sunny weather.