Eigenvalue analysis provides a way of predicting the measurement value at a particular wavelength from measurements made at other wavelengths. It was applied to MFRSR data to find the aerosol contribution made to the measured total optical thickness at the Chappuis band centered near 0.614 &mgr;m, within the measurement accuracy. This was used to calculate the total ozone column. The estimated total ozone columns using this technique are compared with the ozone determined using the method described by (King and Byrne, 1976), both were compared with ADEOS and EP total ozone mapping spectroradiometer (TOMS) measurements. The new method gave an excellent agreement with the satellite measurements. The weekly mean percentage difference between the total ozone and both ADEOS and EP/TOMS was 1% and 2% respectively. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union