Absorption bands between 300 nm and 315 nm were observed in spectral scans of the atmospheric albedo made by the solar backscattered ultraviolet instrument (SBUV) on Nimbus 7 following the eruption of El Chichon. We show that these bands coincide with peaks in the absorption coefficient spectrum of SO2 and use the magnitude of the absorption to estimate the column content of SO2 present. A maximum concentration of 15 matm-cm of SO2 was observed west of Hawaii on April 15; the minimum detectable amount of SO2 in a single scan is about 1-matm-cm. The disappearance of the band structure at wavelengths below 300 nm indicates that the SO2 was between 20 km and 30 km altitutde. We also observe excess albedo near 300 nm which we attribute to increased scattering from volcanic aerosols; the wavelength of the scattering feature indicates that the aerosols also were near 25 km altitude.