Multi AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) observations of the oxygen dimer O₄ which can serve as a new method for the determination of atmospheric aerosol properties are presented. Like established methods, e.g., Sun radiometer and LIDAR measurements, MAX-DOAS O₄ observations determine optical properties of aerosol under atmospheric conditions (not dried). However, the novel technique has two major advantages: It utilizes differential O₄ absorption structures and thus does not require absolute radiometric calibration. In addition, O₄ observations using this method provide a new kind of information: since the atmospheric O₄ profile depends strongly on altitude, they can yield information on the atmospheric light path distribution and in particular on the atmospheric aerosol profile. From O₄ observations during clear days and from atmospheric radiative transfer modeling, we conclude that our new method is especially sensitive to the aerosol extinction close to the ground. In addition, O₄ observations using this method yield information on the penetration depth of the incident direct solar radiation. O₄ observations at different azimuth angles can also provide information on the aerosol scattering phase function. We found that MAX-DOAS O₄ observations are a very sensitive method: even aerosol extinction below 0.001 could be detected. In addition to the O₄ absorptions we also investigated the magnitude of the Ring effect and the (relative) intensity. Both quantities yield valuable further information on atmospheric aerosols. From the simultaneous analysis of the observed O₄ absorption and the measured intensity, in particular, information on the absorbing properties of the aerosols might be derived. The aerosol information derived from MAX-DOAS observations can be used for the quantitative analysis of various trace gases also analyzed from the measured spectra.