PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP AUGUST 1995 The following science projects were active at Palmer Station during the month: S-045R LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED SYSTEM. Robin M. Ross and Langdon B. Quetin, University of California, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, California 93106. No personnel were on station. Phytoplankton cultures were maintained by the winter Assistant Supervisor Laboratory Operations and the ASA Data Entry Clerk, Victoria Hogue, a past member of the S-028 (S-045R) winter field team. S-091 PALMER IRIS SEISMOLOGY. R. Butler/G. Holcomb, U.S. Geological Survey, Albuquerque, NM. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. Seismic events throughout the month were recorded. Mass positions were adjusted, and vacuums applied to the three seismic instruments on 31 July. Mass positions were again adjusted to the Z and E/W instruments and vacuums applied to the N/S and E/W instruments on 28 August. A planned power outage occurred on 28 August, and an unplanned outage occurred on 29 August, both resulting in automated tape changes. S-106 VERY LOW FREQUENCY (VLF) REMOTE SENSING OF THUNDERSTORM AND RADIATION BELT COUPLING TO THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. Synoptic, narrow band and broad-band recordings of VLF signals were made on a daily basis. The schedule of broad-band Beta tape recordings was reduced to 2 each day starting 16 August due to a shortage of tapes. Beta tape recordings ceased on 31 August when the tapes ran out. S-254 CHLORINE- AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN THE ANTARCTIC. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, Portland, Oregon. No personnel were on station. Due to a shortage of stainless steel canisters, no samples were collected for the month of August behind the Clean Air Facility by the station physician. Canister inventory remains at 0 empty and 25 full. The PI was notified of the further gap in samples arising from the opening ship not arriving at Palmer Station due to heavy ice conditions. S-257C COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA/CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. J.T. Peterson, NOAA, Boulder, CO. No personnel were on station. Due to a shortage of sample containers, only four air samples were collected in glass flasks from a site located behind the Clean Air Facility, by the station physician, using the MAKS sampler. Flask inventory currently remains at 0 empty and 16 full. The PI was notified of the further gap in samples arising from the opening ship not arriving at Palmer Station due to heavy ice conditions. S-275 UM/DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM. J. Prospero/T. Snowdon, University of Miami; C. Sanderson/N. Chui, EML/DOE N.Y. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. On 08 August, a planned power outage halted DEAN/RAMP filter and counting activities for approximately 4 hours. Twice during the month the intake to the air filter was found partially clogged with snow and ice, and on 18 August a large pool of water was drained off the filter and filter cassette apparatus. Sample counting was halted for a short interval on 28 August due to a planned power outage, and again on 29 August due to an unplanned power outage. T-312 TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. The TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP and NOAA telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 15 passes per day. AWS data was collected from the Bonaparte Point and Hugo Island automatic weather stations in support of the LTER project. During August, extensive satellite imagery support was provided to the R/V Polar Duke to assist with the transit from Punta Arenas, Chile, to Palmer Station. Additionally, both infrared and passive microwave images were collected in support of the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer's current operations in the Amundsen Sea and Bellingshausen Sea vicinity. On 08 August, TeraScan operations were suspended for approximately four hours due to a planned power outage. Satellite data collection was impacted by automatic reboots of the Sun workstation twice during August, and also by three hard hangs of the workstation operating system. On 24 August a software patch to the operating system was installed. Provided by Sun Microsystems and SeaSpace Support, the patch is aimed at eliminating many of the soft and hard hang problems. The patch installation went well, and the system is being monitored to evaluate it's effectiveness. T-513 UV MONITORING EXPERIMENT. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data were collected daily and transmitted to BSI. Preliminary irradiance data and inferred ozone abundances were produced in support of Science. A double absolute calibration of the UV monitor, using both reference lamps for intercomparison, was performed on 11 August. The schedule of data scans was expanded in response to the seasonal lengthening of daylight hours, and the UV monitor's sensitivity was reduced due to increases in solar irradiance. On 05 August, a malfunctioning thermostat for the UV monitor's room heater was replaced. On 29 August, an unplanned power outage interrupted a wavelength scan, resulting in several errors and abnormal termination of the 1600Z data scan. The errors were cleared using a manually-initiated wavelength scan, and a manual data scan was performed at 1617Z to insure the system was working properly. An absolute calibration of the UV monitor was performed on 30 August, several days later than scheduled due to inclement weather. S-254 CHLORINE- AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN THE ANTARCTIC. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, Portland, Oregon. No personnel were on station. Four samples were collected in stainless steel canisters, behind the Clean Air Facility by the Station Physician. The samples were labeled with the date and stored for retrograding. S-257C COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA/CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. J.T. Peterson, NOAA, Boulder No personnel were on station. Six air samples were collected in glass flasks from a site behind the Clean Air Facility, by the Station Physician, using the MAKS sampler. 31180807.450 PLM1335.AUG