The diurnal variation of the vertical column density (VCD) of NO3 was measured during 16 nights in the winter 1993/94 (mid January--early March) at Kiruna (68 ¿N, 21 ¿E) using the moon as light source. The lunar zenith angle (LZA) dependence of the NO3 absorption indicates that the majority (≥75%) of the atmospheric column was located in the stratosphere. After a rapid increase within the first two hours after sunset the measured NO3 VCDs only slowly increase during the rest of the night. The NO3 VCDs (≤3.2⋅1013 molec/cm2) are significantly larger compared to previous NO3 measurements in the Arctic. These differences can be most probably attributed to different atmospheric temperatures and differences in the correction of the H2O absorption structure in the NO3 analysis. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union