A network of five automated and two handheld solar radiometers was operated during the 1994--1996 Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) in northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada, in order to characterize the atmospheric aerosol properties. Direct solar measurements were used to measure atmospheric transmission and infer aerosol optical thickness and water vapor column abundance. Near-Sun sky radiance measurements (solar aureole) were used to estimate the aerosol size distribution. Aerosol conditions were heavily influenced by the presence or absence of forest fires. In 1996, when few fires occurred, conditions were uniform across the region with median aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 500 nm of 0.12 and 90th percentile values of 0.27 for the May-October period. During the 1994 and 1995 seasons, numerous fires occurred in the vicinity of the sites. The median AOT values were comparable with the 1996 values, though the 90th percentile values were larger, in general measuring 0.85 (southern 1994 season was 0.43). Median column water vapor measurements for the same 7 month period were in the range from 1.32 to 1.58 cm at both sites, with 1995 being the driest year of observation. Winter median values of AOT and water vapor were typically 0.09 and 0.34 cm, respectively. Size distributions derived from solar almucantar measurements show the predominance of small particles during smoke episodes when compared to that for background conditions. Spectral dependence of the AOT as characterized by the wavelength exponent, α, asymptotes at 1.8 for high optical depths for a 7 month season of cloud-screened data at the northern young jack pine site. This observed wavelength exponent for boreal biomass burning conditions is within the range of values found during the burning season in a study in Brazil. ¿ 1997 American Geophysical Union