Abstract: The DNQ1 forward scattering visibility meter is currently one of the most widely used visibility meters at weather stations in China.However, rare studies have evaluated and compared the performance of DNQ1 visibility meters with other similar visibility instruments worldwide.Therefore, we conducted a comparative study using observation data of DNQ1 and FD12 visibility meters at the Shangdianzi National Atmosphere Watch Station from January to March 2015.The characteristics of observed differences between the two visibility meters and their relationships with major meteorological parameters and atmospheric components were analyzed in this study.The results indicated that hourly mean visibility measured by two instruments exhibits a consistent variation trend, with a correlation coefficient of 0.98.Except for rainfall, the difference in visibility observed by DNQ1 and FD12 instruments is less affected by different weather conditions (including sunny days, sand-dust, fog, haze, rainfall, and snowfall), but the difference range and dispersion increase as visibility level increases.The visibility difference shows an exponential decrease with the increase of relative humidity, a linear positive correlation with air temperature, and an insignificant relationship with air pressure, wind speed, and wind direction.The mean relative deviation between DNQ1-and FD12-measured visibility at different times of the day is on average less than ±10%, which indicates that the NDQ1 visibility meter meets observation needs.The correlation between the two visibility at night is better than that during the day, which may be related to the daily variation of relative humidity and temperature.