Since summer 1991 multiwavelength lidar and sun photometer observations of the Pinatubo aerosol layer are performed at the Arctic NDSC station (Koldewey‐Station) in Ny‐Ålesund, Spitsbergen. The height integrated backscatter coefficient and the optical density decrease exponentially in time with time constants of 0.89±0.39 and 0.94±0.37 years, respectively. Their wavelength dependence indicates a decrease in median particle radii between 1992 and 1993. It is shown that the observations are consistent with results of parameter‐free model calculations. The calculations are based on the assumption that gravitational sedimentation is the dominant process for volcanic aerosol removal in the Arctic stratosphere. Copyright 1995 by the American Geophysical Union.