Satellite measurements for atmospheric pollutants monitoring provide full mapping, large spatial coverage, and high spatial resolution. Retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) from satellite data as the key parameter has been used in the study on particulate matter (PM) distributions which is complementary to ground-based measurements. Based on the empirical relations between aerosol optical properties and PM10 or PM2.5 concentration and its influencing factors, combining the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regional PM distribution feature, the specifications including bands, viewing angles and polarization measuring requirements of the on-orbit PM monitoring instrument are discussed. The instrument is designed to obtain the data for retrieving atmospheric AOD, shape and size of particles, refractive index, aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA), etc. The major pollutant PM2.5 concentration can be retrieved from the remote sensing data especially, and its global distribution can be mapped as well. The progress of conventional aerosol retrieval method using visible data is presented along with its limitation for serious haze-fog condition. Adding ultra violet (UV) bands to obtain UV aerosol index (UVAI) is useful for monitoring the main constituents of haze.