The effect of atmospheric scattering on ocean color measurements from space is considered. It is shown that modeling of the atmospheric effects can be improved by taking into account not only the direct but also the diffuse component of atmospheric transmittance and by a more precise formulation of the interaction between molecular and aerosol scattering in the calculation of atmospheric reflectance. This method, necessitating two near-infrared channels, should be used in future ocean color experiments to better correct for variable aerosol reflectance. The relative accuracy of the aerosol reflectance correction would then be to within 5%, as opposed to the more than 10% obtained with previous modelings.