Near-field in situ measurements of absorbing material contained in contrail ice has been measured using a particle soot/absorption photometer connected to a counterflow virtual impactor. Vertical profiles made through exhaust plumes from commercial aircraft show a difference in content of absorbing material between the upper and the lower half of the contrail. In the upper part, average concentrations of absorbing material ranged between 0.006 and 0.045 μg m-3, while much less or nothing was detected in the lower half of the exhaust plume. The observed concentrations of absorbing material after normalization with fuel flow and plume dilution show a considerable consistency between exhaust from different aircraft. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union