The total scattering coefficient is determined from three multiangle scattering measurements at different heights above the burner in a nonsooting laminar ethylene diffusion flame. The local extinction coefficient is determined from multichord extinction measurements. The above analysis quantifies the contribution from scattering to extinction without knowledge of the soot primary particle diameter or the morphology of the aggregates, and the t ZD absorption coefficient can now be determined. The primary particle diameter, the number density of primary particles, the average number of primary particles in an aggregate, and the width of the lognormal distribution function for the number of primary particles in an aggregate are calculated using the absorption coefficient and assumed constant values for the fractal dimension, the fractal prefactor, and the complex refractive index for soot. The values for the primary particle diameter obtained from the in situ measurements in this study compare well with those obtained from transmission electron microscopic measurements of thermophoretically sampled soot aggregates in a previous study at all heights in the diffusion flame, while the calculated soot structure parameters compare well with previous studies only at heights between 30 and 50 mm above the burner. (c) 2006 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.