In the present paper, aerosol research by using polarization remote sensing in last two decades (1993—2013) was reviewed, including aerosol researches based on POLDER/PARASOL, APS(Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor), Polarized Airborne camera and Ground-based measurements. We emphasize the following three aspects: (1)The retrieval algorithms developed for land and marine aerosol by using POLDER/PARASOL; The validation and application of POLDER/PARASOL AOD, and cross-comparison with AOD of other satellites, such as MODIS AOD. (2) The retrieval algorithms developed for land and marine aerosolby using MICROPOL and RSP/APS.We also introduce the new progress in aerosol research based on The Directional Polarimetric Camera(DPC), which was produced by Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). (3)The aerosol retrieval algorithms by using measurements from ground-based instruments, such as CE318-2 and CE318-DP.The retrieval results from spaceborne sensors, airborne camera and ground-based measurements include total AOD, fine-mode AOD, coarse-mode AOD, size distribution, particle shape, complex refractive indices, single scattering albedo, scattering phase function, polarization phase function and AOD above cloud. Finally, based on the research, the authors present the problems and prospects of atmospheric aerosol research by using polarization remote sensing, and provide a valuable reference for the future studies of atmospheric aerosol.