Observations of biomass burning smoke from Russian wild fire episodes in Finland 2010.

Forest and peat bog fires occur almost every summer in several parts of Russian boreal forests due to long rainless and heat periods at summertime. Particulate matter and different gases (CO, CO₂, NOx, O₃, SO₂) in air can be transported thousands of kilometers away from the fire areas. Increased concentrations of the different parameters, like carbon monoxide and aerosol particles were observed on certain days in Southern Finland and even Finnish Lapland during Russian wild fire episodes in summer 2010. During these days the wind direction was from East or Southeast to Finland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]