A laser nephelometer developed for airborne measurements of polar scattering diagrams of atmospheric aerosols was flown on the NCAR Sabreliner aircraft to obtain data on light‐scattering parameters for stratospheric aerosol particles over Alaska during July 1979. Observed values of the angular variation of scattered‐light intensity were compared with those calculated for different values of the asymmetry parameter g in the Henyey‐Greenstein phase function. Our observations indicate that, for the time and location of the experiments, the Henyey‐Greenstein phase function could be used to calculate polar scattering diagrams to within experimental errors for an asymmetry parameter value of 0.49