Received: from SpoolDir by PALMER (Mercury 1.31); 4 Apr 99 23:24:10 -0000 From: "Palmer Labs" Organization: Palmer Station, Antarctica To: palmer_science@asa.org Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 23:24:00 -0000 Subject: March Science Monthly PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP MARCH 1999 William R. Fraser, SSL NEWS FROM THE LAB. Ken Doggett, Sr. Asst. Supervisor, Laboratory Operations Out With the Old and In With The New! March saw the completion of field seasons for four groups at Station and the arrival of three more. Science groups BO-003-O (Day), BP-016-O (Vernet), BP-028-O (Ross/Quetin) and BP-032-O (Smith) departed Station while BO-036-O (Sidell), BO-037-O (Detrich) and AO-106-O (Inan) arrived. With the arrival of the 'fish' groups, 6,800 gallons of aquarium space is being utilized and is stocked with numerous species of Southern Ocean fish. Station personnel have been involved in the collection of local area fish species for the science groups and are proving quite adept at it. Weather in March has been growing steadily winter-like and total precipitation has almost doubled from the first two months of the year (138.3 mm for the month, 307.7 mm YTD). High temperature was +6.7 C on the first day of the month going downhill to a low of -4.0 C on the last day. Peak wind gusts were recorded at 59 knots during a storm on the 26th of the month. Animal populations around Station are decreasing. Few elephant seals remain and penguin have left for winter quarters. We have seen the return of the sheath bills (locally known as the antarctic chicken) and fur seals continue to be abundant. I would like to thank all Station and science personnel at Palmer this season, for their patience and contributions to my first season on the peninsula side of the Program. The winter lab manager arrives at the beginning of April and I will be departing Station shortly after. The following programs were involved in research at Palmer Station: BP-013-O LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT). William R. Fraser, Principal Investigator, Biology Department, Montana State University. Personnel on station: William R. Fraser and Donna L. Patterson. Very poor access to our island study sites due to severe weather most of the month delayed aquisition of the final LTER Seabird Component core field data. As a result, much of the month was devoted to data management, the completion and submission of manuscripts and laboratory analysis associated with the identification and measurement of Adelie Penguin diet sample components. Improved weather conditions towards the end of the month, however, allowed us to finish much of our remaining field work. This included maintenance on our telemetry equipment and the aquisition of the final data associated with an extensive summer mapping effort of our study sites. As in past seasons, we continued the aquisition of basic data on the demography, breeding biology and foraging ecology of Giant Petrels, Kelp Gulls, Blue-eyed Shags and Brown and South Polar Skuas. These data add to several species-specific time series that began in the mid-1970s. Special thanks are due to ASA's Sheldon Blackman for outstanding assistance with our telemetry studies, to Jeff Otten for invaluable help with our mapping work, and to Ron Nugent and Ken Doggett for successfully coordinating a number of difficult tasks associated with our collaborative research with the USGS. BP-036-O EVOLUTION OF AN OXYGEN-BINDING PROTEIN IN A UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT: MYOGLOBIN IN THE HEMOGLOBINLESS ANTARCTIC ICEFISHES. Bruce Sidell, Principal Investigator, University of Maine). Personnel on Station: T. Grove and B. Sidell Two of this year's field team members (Sidell, Grove) arrived at Palmer on 25 March with the arrival of LMG 99-3 from Punta Arenas. After a day of initial laboratory setup, both departed Palmer Station on 27 March for conduct of trawling operations in Dallman Bay, in conjunction with personnel from Project S-037. Fishing in Dallman Bay was successful and we returned to Palmer at 0730 on 29 March. Fish were transferred to the Palmer Station aquarium facilities immediately after arrival of the L.M. Gould. Our laboratory experiments with these animals will commence tomorrow (30 March). BP-037-O STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND EXPRESSION OF COLD-ADAPTED TUBULINS AND MICTROTUBULE-DEPENDENT MOTORS FROM ANTARCTIC FISHES. William Detrich, Principal Investigator, Northeastern University. Personnel on Station: H. William Detrich, Steven Hann, and Donald Yergeau Project S-037's 1999 field season began on 21 March with the departure of H.W. Detrich, S. Hann, and D. Yergeau from Punta Arenas, Chile, on board the ARSV Laurence M. Gould at the start of Cruise 99-3. After a smooth crossing of the Drake Passage, we arrived at Palmer Station on 25 March and subsequently set up our laboratory facilities in two days. On 27 March, our field team sailed to Dallmann Bay on the ARSV Gould to conduct a fishing trip in conjunction with Project S-036 (Sidell). Trawling operations were very successful, yielding the following specimens of red- and white-blooded Antarctic notothenioid fishes: 300 Gobionotothen gibberifrons, 15 Dissostichus mawsoni, 3 Notothenia coriiceps, 1 Parachaenichthys charcoti, 1 Gymnodraco acuticeps, 20 Chaenocephalus aceratus, 25 Chionodraco rastrospinosus, 10 Champsocephalus gunnari, and 5 Pseudochaenichthys georgianus. On return to Palmer Station on 29 March, fishes were transported to the Palmer Station Aquarium. We thank the ship and station personnel for their help in the successful initiation of our field and laboratory work. GO-052-O GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION. J. Mullins, U.S. Geological Survey. The station science technician has monitored the system. During the month GPS data was collected continuously, converted daily to a RINEX format, compressed, and transmitted to the US Geological Survey in Reston, VA. One final high precision GPS reading was taken on the recently installed survey marker on Biscoe Point (now an island). Survey marker caps were stamped and placed on the seven recently installed survey markers. The GPS station was used this month to transmit correctors to a roving GPS. The roving GPS was then used to accurately determine the Very Low Frequency antenna coordinates for AO-106-O. GO-091-O GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION. R. Butler, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The station science technician has operated the system. Global seismic events were recorded throughout the month. All operations during the month were normal. A new hard drive, complete with a Y2K compliant software upgrade, was installed in the USGS Seismic Data Processor unit. Some extra large glacial calvings in the area showed up in the seismic data. AO-106-O STUDIES OF LIGHTNING-INDUCED ELECTRON PRECIPITATION OF THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University. Personnel on Station: Troy Wood The station science technician has operated the system. The Stanford receiver records very low frequency (VLF) radio waves for studying ionospheric and magnetospheric natural phenomena. The guy ropes holding up the VLF antenna on the glacier were retensioned several times, due to melting and shifting ice. During a weekly check of the VLF antenna, it was discovered that the hard rains of the previous week had melted off a lot of the glacier, leaving the supporting posts of the tower and antenna dangerously loose. New holes were drilled in the glacier and the posts reestablished. A third Beta VCR was received from Stanford and was put online so that once again, nine hours of continuous broadband data is being recorded nightly. The field team member has begun installation of a PC/CDROM broadband synoptic recording system that after a suitable overlap time, may replace the reel to reel Ampex recording system. The VLF UPS provided power throughout the power outage, but the battery is weak and would not have lasted much longer. The battery will be replaced. The backup battery inside the Standford Programmer/Clock was found to be bad and will be replaced. OO-204-O 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. OO-254-O 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. OO-264-O 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. This data will be used to determine how the rate of change of these parameters affects climate, particularly by including them in climate model studies. OO-275-O 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. OO-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATED WEATHER STATIONS. Charles Stearns, University of Wisconsin. The station science technician has monitored the sites. Automated Weather Station (AWS) transmissions were monitored from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and RACER Rock using the TeraScan system. The Hugo Island AWS site stopped transmitting on 1/21/99. The problem will be diagnosed when a ship is next able to get to the site. The R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER was not able to stop and attempt repairs on its way north from Marguerite Bay to Palmer Station due to sea conditions. TO-312-O TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institute of Oceanography. The station science technician has operated the system. Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP and NOAA satellite pass telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 17-20 passes per day. SeaWiFS satellite pass telemetry was also collected and archived in its encrypted format. NOAA and DMSP telemetry was archived for BP-032-O when the LTER grid was clear of clouds. Ice images were generated when skies were clear for use by the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD and R/V NATHANIAL B. PALMER in navigation. Ice images were supplied to BP-013-O for use in studying the location of a radio tagged giant petrel that was evading having its transmitter removed. Ice images of the Larsen ice shelf were supplied to the Antarctic Research Center of Scripps Institute of Oceanography. SeaSpace personnel have diagnosed why the SeaWiFS software upgrade causes problems with collecting DMSP satellite pass data. They will be sending new software and hardware to fix the problem at Palmer. Meanwhile, the interim solution continues to work well. The TeraScan SPARC Station's memory was doubled to 256MB. The TeraScan GPS was determined not to be End-Of-Week compliant and will need to be replaced by August. A new release of the TeraScan software arrived, but it contains a bug concerning acquisition of SeaWiFS data which must be resolved before it can be installed. A 63 mile long iceberg is being tracked. After moving generally ENE for two months, it appeared to be stopped by the continental shelf 90 miles NW of Palmer Station. During the last week of March, it again started moving, this time to the north. TO-513-O UV MONITORING NETWORK. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. The station science technician has operated the system. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data scans were collected daily and transmitted to BSI, and preliminary irradiances and spectral integrals were produced in support of Science. Scheduled absolute calibration scans were performed, and the system is operating normally. SYNOPTIC WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. Antarctic Support Associates. Some more progress was made on packaging Palmer weather data from April 1989 through 1998. It was discovered that the "average" temperature reported April 1989 through September 1996 was an average of the minimum and maximum thermometer temperatures. Since October 1996 the "average" temperature reported has been the average of the outdoor temperatures recorded at each of the four synoptic observations. OTHER OBSERVATIONS. A new Y2K compliant office PC was installed and all files backed up and transferred to the new large capacity hard drive. An unplanned station power failure of less than 5 minutes on March 26 caused no significant problems or loss of data. ========================== Ken Doggett Laboratory Services Palmer Station, Antarctica 64.77 South, 64.07 West United States Antarctic Program -------------------------- LABMAN@palmer.usap.nsf.gov INMARSAT voice: 011-874-336-857-710 fax: 011-874-336-857-712 ==========================