Based on the self-developed aerosol extinction spectrometer, continuous observation was carried out at Shouxian Observation Station in Anhui Province, China, and the aerosol optical properties in thisarea from May to December 2016 were studied. Combined with the different atmospheric factors, the time series change and daily change law of observation results were analyzed, the correlation between extinction coefficient and PM2.5 mass concentration, scattering coefficient were compared, and the influence of wind speed and direction on the variation of extinction coefficient in Shouxian was discussed. The results show that the time series and diurnal variation characteristics of atmospheric extinction coefficient in Shouxian area are obvious, and they are affected by different meteorological factors. Compared with other seasons, the air pollution in autumn and winter is more serious, and the number of days of polluted weather is increased significantly. Compared with clean weather, the extinction coefficient, PM2.5 mass concentration and scattering coefficient of polluted weather are increased significantly. Especially in winter, pollution events are more frequent. For example, in December, the average concentration of PM2.5 in 24 h exceeds 150 μg·m-3, and the extinction coefficient, PM2.5 mass concentration and scattering coefficient of the month reach the monthly average maximum value during the observation period. During the observation period, according to the diurnal variation, the extinction coefficient, PM2.5 mass concentration and scattering coefficient fluctuate greatly in the daytime, and the lowest values appear in the afternoon. The maximum extinctioncoefficient appears at about 08:00 a.m., and the minimum value appears at about 16:00 p.m.. In addition, the correlation coefficients of aerosol extinction coefficient measured by extinction spectrometer with PM2.5 concentration and scattering coefficient are 0.91 and 0.83, respectively, indicating that the measurement results of the developed extinction spectrometer are in good agreement with those of other instruments.