PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP APRIL 1998 NEWS FROM THE LAB. Diane Wetterlin, Winter Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations Even though there is no science being conducted in the lab it has still been a very lively place. There are several special projects going on this winter with two of them having a limited time to be completed. The projects that have affected the Lab the most this month are the asbestos abatement, and hazardous waste retrograde. Bio-Lab had to be readied for the removal of asbestos containing tiles from the third floor berthing, the kitchen pantry, ET room, medical and Labs 6,7 and 8. The labs were completely emptied. Equipment from Lab 6 was moved into Lab 3 leaving room for the erection of shelving for the bio-store construction project later in the season. Lab 7 and 8 were moved to the counters in Lab 10. Lab 10 was also used for staging the asbestos team's equipment. The asbestos team arrived April 18th and completed the planned removal of the tiles during their short twelve-day stay. Later this season after new tiles are laid and the cabinets replaced, all the equipment will be returned to their original rooms. Space has also been cleared for medical to store their equipment in Lab 5, 6 and 7 (after the removal of the tiles). A temporary examination room was made in Lab 2. Computer equipment located in the Mechanical room was moved to GWR dry stores to make room for the pipe fitters working on the new sprinkler system. The plan for the ground floor right now is to install sprinklers in the Aquarium room only this winter. Another project that was started and completed during the same twelve days is the retrograde of hazardous waste. Although the lab quantitatively is a small part of the total waste, it is comprised of some of the more dangerous chemicals therefore it is very time consuming to pack and ship. The goal is to achieve a rotation where hazardous waste will be retrograded on the off years when science is scheduled late into the season. The Gould made a hasty early departure due to the threat of several icebergs blocking Hero Inlet. Everyone was put on notice that the ship could leave at any moment. The whole station was called on to assist in the loading and blocking of the waste milvans while the ship's crew kept a close eye on the movement of the icebergs. As the ship made its way out of the inlet April 28th around 3:30 PM, you could hear the ship gently nudge against one of the icebergs as it slipped out of the inlet to freedom. I think we must have passed some critical point this month in temperature. Although the average temperature dropped only a half a degree to 0.5C, I find myself wearing a coat much more often. It could be that the average winds were 19 knots, up from 9 knots last month, making them more capable of robbing my body of its precious heat. It has been hard to stay dry this month too. The days of precipitation were up slightly to 29 days, 20 snow and 9 rain, but the total precipitation melted was almost twice as high, 123.3 mm. It is still predominantly overcast (21 days) again with only one clear day. We have been fortunate enough to have the sun break through early in the morning to produce some spectacular red sunrises over the blue glacier. Earlier in the month the Cormorants could often be seen in flocks but now there are only the stragglers remaining to form the occasional small flock. Sheathbills are making themselves right at home. I believe they were just as happy as the winter crew at the ship's departure with all the extra people. I saw several birds doing their best to help the line handlers release the ship from the pier by pecking at the ropes. Slowly but surely the numbers of critters seen around Palmer is dwindling. I haven't seen a Storm Petrel in weeks. There are still plenty of die hards sticking around to make it difficult for me to keep my mind on my work when I am outside. It took me three years of coming to Antarctica before I saw a Snow Petrel, now I see at least five a day. The darkness is starting to creep into the workday now. The light has faded enough by 4:30 to make working outside noticeably more difficult. S-085 GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION. J. Mullins, U.S. Geological Survey The station science technician has monitored the system. During the month of April GPS data was collected continuously, converted daily to a RINEX format, compressed, and FTPed to Reston, VA. The average daily data transfer to Reston was 2.65 MB. Operator intervention to manually edit the RINEX file before transfer continues to be necessary as the software fails to add the required header comments. S-091 GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION. R. Butler, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) The station science technician has monitored the system. Seismic events were recorded throughout the month. The system continues to operate well, although an unexpected tape change was seen once, most likely due to a media flaw. Software upgrades and a new system GPS unit have arrived, and are awaiting installation. S-106 STUDIES OF LIGHTNING-INDUCED ELECTRON PRECIPITATION OF THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University Personnel on station: Mike Johnson. The station science technician has monitored the system. One S-106 grantee was on station during the month of April for the annual site visit. Shortly after his arrival, the VLF antenna suffered severe damage due to high winds. A new antenna was fabricated with the assistance of the station antenna riggers and the science technical staff, and raised with the cooperation of many station personnel on Easter Sunday. The system is again operational, and the grantee completed the annual calibrations and diagnostics before departure. At the request of the grantees, the science technical staff began around-the-clock recordings of VLF signals for a special multi-week data collection event. These recordings are continuing into the month of May. A new data collection system was added during the site visit, now recording narrowband VLF signals to CD-ROM in addition to the usual Beta, Ampex, and 8mm tape formats. S-204 MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC O2 IN RELATION TO THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE. Ralph Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Air samples are collected on a semi-weekly basis by the station physician. The samples are return shipped to Scripps for analysis of O2 and CO2 content. The goal of the program is to resolve seasonal and interannual variations in atmospheric O2 (detected through changes in O2/N2 ratio) which can aid in the determination of rates of marine biological productivity and ocean mixing and aid in the separation of the global sink for anthropogenic CO2 into terrestrial and oceanic components. The program involves air sampling at a network of sites in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Palmer Station is especially well situated to resolve signals due to carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean. S-254 CHLORINE- AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN ANTARCTICA. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science and Technology Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The samples are returned to the Institute for analysis of a number of trace components, especially chlorine- and bromine-containing gases. These elements have been implicated in the chemical processes that contribute to the austral-spring depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica. This work will contribute to a better understanding of the buildup of trace constituents, particularly those of high-latitude marine origin. S-257C COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA\CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. James T. Peterson, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory team continue long-term measurements of trace atmospheric constituents that influence climate. The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA laboratory for analysis of trace constituents, including carbon dioxide. These measurements are part of NOAA's effort to determine and assess the long-term buildup of global pollutants in the atmosphere. These data will be used to determine how the rate of change of these parameters affects climate, particularly by including them in climate model studies. S-275 UM/DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM. C. Sanderson, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory The station science technician has operated the system. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. The RAMP system is part of a global network seeking to characterize the quantity and distribution of radionuclide particles occurring both naturally and artificially in the atmosphere. T-312 TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography The station science technician has operated the system. Throughout the month of March, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP, NOAA, and ORBVIEW-2 telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 17-19 passes per day. NOAA, DMSP, and ORBVIEW-2 telemetry were archived for S-032 when the LTER grid was clear. AWS transmissions were monitored from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and RACER Rock. During the month, imagery of the Marguerite Bay area and Northwestern Weddell Sea was processed and provided to Marine Ops in support of the upcoming Ice Trials cruise. Weather imagery was also provided to assist Marine Ops cruise planning. Late in April the SeaWiFFs sensor on the Orbview-2 satellite was disabled over the Antarctic region due to increasing sun zenith angles. T-513 UV MONITORING NETWORK. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. Personnel on station: James Robertson. The station science technician has operated the system. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data were collected daily and transmitted to BSI, and preliminary irradiances and integrals were produced in support of Science. Scheduled absolute calibration scans were performed on 09 April and 23 April. The science technical staff assisted the grantee with the annual site visit and instrument calibrations. On 30 April the instrument roofbox was re-sealed to prevent moisture leaks, and the bird deterrent device was reinstalled.