In January and March 1992, DC-8-measured stratospheric particle optical depth spectra, &tgr;p(&lgr;), peaked broadly at midvisible or longer wavelength. At mid-to-high northern latitudes outside the vortex, &tgr;p (526 nm) above about 11 km was as large as 0.22 in both January and March, reflecting continued Pinatubo volcanic influence. In both months, in-vortex &tgr;p(&lgr;) above 11 km was smaller than outside-vortex values by a factor of two or more, and in January a strong anticorrelation was observed between &tgr;p(&lgr;) and HF column content (an indicator of vortex penetration). In late January at 18--20 S, near the edge of the southern subtropical jet, &tgr;p (526 nm) above 12 km was only about 0.l07--0.09, with a flatter spectral shape than northern mid- to high-latitude measurements in both January and March. Occasional high-latitude vertical profiles indicate 6--11-km slab optical depths, Δ&tgr;p (526 nm), of 0.05 to 0.1, which should be added to the above-11-km values to yield values above 6 km. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993