TITLE:   Palmer LTER: Annual January cruise for 1997 (PD97-1)
AUTHORS: Robin M. Ross, and Karen S. Baker
DATE:    1997 
Palmer LTER Contribution No. 148
Antarctic Journal  of the United States, (accepted)

Abstract - 
Each year since 1993, the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research
(LTER) program has surveyed a mesoscale study region west of the Antarctic
Peninsula with a standard grid that was set up at the initiation of the
program (Waters and Smith, 1992).  During the 1997 cruise aboard the \fIR/V
Polar Duke\fP (PD97-1), sampling occurred between 11 January and 13 February.
The cruise plan (Table 1) included standard cardinal transect lines (Figure
1), high density sampling within the foraging range of Ade\*'lie penguins
nesting near Palmer Station (Figure 2), periodic visits to the stations
near Palmer, and spatial variance transects.  Three of the five major
cruise objectives for 1997 are common to all January cruises:  (1) to document
interannual variability in various physical and biological variables along
and offshore at the mesoscale in the LTER study area;
(2) to investigate the linkage between marine resources and
Ade\*'lie penguins during a time of peak food requirements for the chicks; and
(3) to maintain seasonal sampling at the stations near Palmer Station.
These nearshore stations are within 3.7 km of Palmer Station and sampled from
zodiacs from November through March to document
interannual variability in seasonal patterns (Baker et al., this volume).
The fourth objective this year was to document
spatial variance of multiple physical and biological parameters
on both on/offshore and alongshore transects. The fifth objective was
to initiate cooperative studies with the British Antarctic Survey making
a visit to Rothera Station (Figure 1).  In addition,
the \fIR/V Polar Duke\fP participated in a broadcast of "Live from
Antarctica 2" from Palmer Station in late January. Questions
from middle school students were answered real-time by those on board through
use of satellite communications.  In addition, personnel aboard
participated in an xbt study directed by Janet Sprintall
of Scripps Institution of Oceanography during the southbound crossing.