The Arctic Study on Tropospheric Aerosol and Radiation (ASTAR) is focused on understanding the climate effects of Arctic haze. As a part of this experiment, a tropospheric aerosol extinction profile was obtained by airborne sun photometer spatially and temporally close to a satellite-based measurement. The results suggest that airborne photometry is a promising avenue for the validation of satellite-derived aerosol extinction measurements in the middle and upper troposphere. The results also suggest that SAGE II measurements can be used to provide a regional context to more intensive but spatially limited aircraft and ground-based data sets.