The second Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement instrument (POAM II) is a spaceborne experiment designed to measure the vertical profiles of ozone, water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, aerosol extinction, and temperature in the polar stratosphere and upper troposphere with a vertical resolution of about 1 km. Measurements are made by the solar occultation technique. The instrument package, which has a mass of less than 25 kg, is carried on the Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) 3 spacecraft and has a design lifetime of 3--5 years. POAM II has provided data on the south polar ozone hole, north and south polar ozone phenomena, the spatial and temporal variability of stratospheric aerosols and polar stratospheric clouds, and has detected polar mesospheric clouds. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996