Atmospheric correction of the data about Wuliangsuhai Lake from the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat-8 was carried out by using the Vanhellemont & Ruddick algorithm based on shortwave infrared bands. The OLI reflectance derived by this algorithm agreeded well with that from the ENVI Flaash model. Its correlation coefficient was 0.8. The OLI reflectance derived after atmospheric correction was well consistent with the measured value. Their errors at the wavelengths of 483 nm, 561 nm and 655 nm were in the range from 19.3% to 36.5%. This showed that this algorithm was suitable for Wuliangsuhai Lake. On the basis of time series data from the OLI onboard Landsat-8, the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of suspended particulate matter concentration were obtained. However, there existed some uncertainties in the retrieval result of suspended particulate matter concentration in Wuliangsuhai Lake. The main reason was that the reflectance from the bottom, submerged vegetation and algae bloom in the lake had great influences on the water leaving reflectance.