Several volcanic eruptions between November 1979 and April 1981 have injected material into the stratosphere. The SAGE and SAM II satellite systems have measured, with global coverage, the 1-μm extinction producted by this material ad examples of the data product are shown in the form of global maps of stratospheric optical depth ad altitude-latitude plots of zonal mean extinction. These data, and that for the volcanically quiet period in early 1979, hae been used to determine the changes in the total stratospheric mass loading. Estimates have also been made of the contribution to the total aerosol mass from each eruption. It has been found that between early 1979 and mid-1981, the total stratospheric aerosol mass increased from a background level of approximately 570,000 metric tons to a peak of approximately 1,300,000 metric tons.