Measuring the microscopic and macroscopic optical properties of smoke aerosols is important in column concentration retrieval by remote sensing for environmental monitoring. Based on the radiation transfer theory, we constructed a physical model to correlate microscopic and macroscopic optical properties of smoke aerosols. According to the experiment, the mass extinction coefficient and mass angular scattering coefficient of smoke aerosols in the visible-near infrared (400 to 2400 nm) show the strongest extinction and scattering effects on the visible light, which are negatively correlated with wavelength. They were applied to smoke column concentration retrieval based on Landsat8/operational land imager and MODIS images by the established model. Then the optimal bands for smoke detection were analyzed. It indicates that the surface underlying the smoke has impact on the optimal band of smoke detection, and red-light band is optimal for vegetation background.