A method for estimating stratospheric aerosol surface area, volume, and extinction to backscatter ratio from single-wavelength lidar measurements is presented. Functional relationships linking these variables are found on the basis of average scattering properties of a large set of aerosol distributions and compositions. The resulting model accounts for sulfate aerosol types, ranging from background to volcanic, in environmental conditions representative of most of the global lower stratosphere. Relevant errors range between 10 and 45% for surface area and between 15 and 35% for volume and extinction to backscatter ratio estimates. These values are slightly larger but comparable to those characterizing in situ particle counters. An extension of the method to the interpretation of both polar stratospheric cloud observations and satellite extinction measurements is discussed. The relationships between lidar backscatter at 532 nm and satellite extinction at 532 and at 1020 nm are evaluated. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1995