Wildfires in the Russian boreal forest zone are estimated to typically burn 12-14 million hectares (ha) annually [Cahoon et al. 1994; conard and Ivanova 1997; Conard et al. 2002; Dixon and Krankina 1993; Kasischke et al. 1999]. Boreal forests contain about 21 percent of global forest area and 28 percent of forest carbon [Dixon et al. 1994], yet data on the extent and impacts of fire in these forests related to actual burning conditions are scarce and often contradictory. While seemly very remote, smoke from Siberian biomass burning can easily reach North America via long range transport, and can at times constitute a significant amount of the pollution present in the Arctic (Amber et al. 2008).