Aerosols play a crucial role in radiative transfer processes. For improving the results of modeling due to aerosol effects, a detailed determination of atmospheric aerosol is required. For the monitoring of aerosol optical depth in the Arctic, a Star photometer for polar night observation has been established in Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen (79°N, 12°E) in 1996. AOD data from the Antarctic plateau are presently very sparse. Year-round aerosol measurements will close this gap and allow a detailed study of the inter-annual and seasonal variations of over the high interior plateau. It is planned to install a Star photometer in Antarctica at Dome Concordia (75°S, 123°E, 3230 m a.s.l) in 2009.