The Advanced High-Resolution Radiometer and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data have been used in conjunction with an aerosol optical model constrained by available aerosol and radiometric observations to quantify aerosol radiative forcing during the 1997 Indonesia’s forest fire. The aerosol model included basic components of polluted marine aerosol (sea salt, sulfate and black carbon) and has been applied to both aerosol optical depth retrievals and aerosol forcing calculations. In September-November 1997, the surface radiation decreased by up to 40 W m-2 over the tropical Indian Ocean and heating rates in the lower troposphere increased almost twofold. The presence of clouds reduced the magnitude of the top-of-the-atmosphere forcing significantly, but had a very limited impact on the surface aerosol forcing and solar energy absorption by the haze.