PALMER STATION
SCIENCE SITREP DECEMBER 2000
Raymond Smith, Station Science Leader

NEWS FROM THE LAB
Rob Edwards, Supervisor, Laboratory Operations
Cara Sucher, Senior Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations

Beautiful weather continued to grace Palmer Station for the month of
December.  Field work was rarely hindered by wind, snow and rain, and
science personnel were able to maintain the active sampling schedule of
November.  Station personnel took advantage of the weather as well, often
visiting Torgersen Island after dinner to watch for hatching Adelie chicks.

The arrival of summer was heralded not only by continuous daylight and
warmer conditions, but also by the onset of tourist and informal visits by
Chilean and Argentinian Naval vessels.  Summer seabird and wildlife
activities were in full swing as well, with Elephant seals and numerous
penguins also visiting station, and the first Humpback whales seen in local
waters.

Progress was made on the "punch list" of projects related to station
remodeling; most notable was the completion of the large Sun/Smoking Deck on
GWR.  Many facilities maintenance projects also got of to a good start with
the good weather, including prepping and priming of areas such as the fuel
tanks and lines, which need a new coat of paint.

The R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD arrived on the 19th, bringing two new scientists
and the Administrative Assistant.  We were also able to persuade the
geologists onboard to give a short lecture about their paleontological work
on Seymour Island.  Almost all Station personnel showed up for the lecture
and to see the 40 million-year-old fossils they had for display.  Four
grantees and the Supervisor of Laboratory Operations left with the ship the
following day.  Weekly evening science lectures have continued to be a
popular activity, as the new lounge/bar area is well suited as a lecture
hall for the "Palmer Free University".

The Christmas and New Year holidays were enjoyed by all, with lots of good
food, music and a raucous gift exchange.

The following projects conducted research at Palmer Station:

BP-013-O:  LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM:
AN ICE DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT)  
Dr. William R. Fraser, Polar Oceans Research Group, Sheridan, MT.

Personnel On Station: Matt Irinaga, Chris Denker, Heidi Geisz, Donna
Patterson.

Unrestricted access to study sites continued during the month of December
with less than three days lost to inclement weather.  Storm days were spent
on station entering data, organizing files, and repairing field gear.

Adelie Penguin Reproductive Success Site monitoring continued on Torgersen
and Humble islands; accurate hatch dates were recorded at all sites.  Peak
hatching occurred during the third week of December.  Indicator counts of
active nests at selected penguin colonies continued throughout December.
Snow depth measurements were taken twice during the month and several sites
are now snow-free.  Stomach lavage conducted on 27 December revealed little
variability in prey composition. 

Dream Island was visited on 29 December for Chinstrap Penguin censuses and
Brown Skua monitoring.  The breeding population of Chinstrap Penguins is
significantly increased over previous seasons. 

Baseline breeding and population data on other area seabirds were, as in the
past, obtained opportunistically to maintain continuity in long-term
databases.  Brown and South Polar skuas, Cormorants, Giant Petrels and Kelp
Gulls are the focus of these efforts.  The number of breeding pairs of South
Polar skuas have increased over last season; nest monitoring will continue
as time allows.  Several adult South Polar skuas that were banded as chicks
on Shortcut Island have been resighted; band reading efforts will continue
as time allows throughout the season.  The main Blue-eyed shag colony on
Cormorant Island is extinct and the breeding population in smaller
sub-colonies is much lower than the 1999/00 season.  Southern Giant petrel
nests in the study area have been surveyed and the number of breeding pairs
is slightly lower than during the 1999/00 season.

Monitoring of marine mammals was continuous throughout the month of
December.  Observations on environmental conditions were recorded daily.  

Donna Patterson arrived at Palmer Station on 21 December and Matt Irinaga
departed on 22 December.  We would like to thank the Palmer Station staff
who helped during several particularly busy days of fieldwork during
December. 

BP-016-O:  LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, AN ICE
DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM - PHYTOPLANKTON ECOLOGY COMPONENT
Dr Maria Vernet, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Personnel on Station:  Wendy Kozlowski (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
and Silvia Rodriguez (Antarctic Institute of Argentina)

December proved to be yet another month of great weather, allowing continued
sampling of the Palmer inshore stations.  Full water column sampling was
completed eight times, and surface water was collected from station B an
additional twenty days for microsporin-like amino acid sampling.  Testing
and calibration also began this month on a new Chelsea Instruments fast
repetition rate fluorometer, which was deployed three times in tandem with
the core sampling and optics measurements of BP-032-O.

All lab work continues to run smoothly.  Preliminary results from the Palmer
inshore area show a low production trend consistent with November's, though
production levels rose sharply at the end of the month as the second bloom
of the season began.  Non-quantitative microscopic analysis of 5µ net tows
taken at stations B and E showed continued presence of cryptomonads, and
diatoms Coscinidiscus (sp), Thalassiosira (sp), Chatoceros (sp), Eucampia
(sp), Rhizoselenia (sp), and Nitzschia (sp), with several species of
Thalasiosira specifically dominating the end of month bloom.

BP-028-O:  LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, AN ICE
DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM  (PREY COMPONENT)  
Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin, Marine Science Institute, University of
California at Santa Barbara

Personnel on Station: Dan Martin, Stephanie Oakes and Christopher Holmes
(Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara)

Activity from 1 December to 31 December, 2000

Field activities for December continued to add to the successful season
opening in November. Conditions permitted continued diving activities and
allowed for frequent trawl and acoustic sampling operations utilizing the
Rubber Duke II zodiac platform.

Krill remained in the Palmer area for the month. Trawling operations
produced enough animals to complete 4 growth experiments, one of which
contained a 50:50 mix of young of year and adults. In addition to weekly
condition factor for young of year, we were able to accomplish two full
samplings of condition factor and chemical composition analysis for adult
krill and a third chemical composition for young of year.

The weekly acoustic sampling from the zodiac platform continued successfully
despite temporary problems with the DAT (digital audio tape) recorder and
continued chart recorder malfunction. Continued good weather and support
from station staff has continued to keep operations running smoothly.
Boating coordinator Jeff Betchel has continued to continued to provide
instrumental support in keeping boating operations unhindered by rapidly
replacing and repairing boats damaged by leopard seals.

Graduate student Stephanie Oakes completed four feeding experiments with
larval krill and ice algae and continues to culture phytoplankton and ice
algae for future experiments. Many thanks to all support staff involved in
maintenance of the environmental rooms and sea water intake system. Field
team leader Dan Martin departed on 12/22/00 and volunteer Christopher Holmes
arrived on 12/21/00.

BP-032-O  LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE
ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT
Raymond C. Smith, ICESS, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA. - Dec
2000

Personnel currently on Station: Kirk Ireson, Sarah Searson

Our group was halved with the departure of Ray Smith & Bill Swanson (TEA) in
the 3rd week of December.  Bill's help with running chlorophyll analyses and
doing MicroTops sunphotometer readings was gratefully appreciated.

Core data was collected on nine sampling days, where surface chlorophyll
values started at ~4 µg/L and decreased to ~1 µg/L, with a minimum of 0.24
µg/L at station B.

Optics-specific zodiac operations resulted in 62 AC9/hydroscat casts.  Some
of the issues which were tackled included a failure of an AC9 pump and pump
cable, battery pack and charger.  Additionally, there were some serious
calibration issues which were probably due to an inferior pure water supply
at Station.  However, some good, useable optical data was gathered.
Spectrophotometrically determined ap/ad/ag values were collected at
three stations.

Ice pictures continued to be taken daily.

The group is now preparing for the upcoming LTER cruise.

GO-052-P  GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION.
J. Mullins, U.S. Geological Survey

The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project.

During the month of December, GPS transmissions were collected continuously,
converted daily to a RInEx format, compressed and transmitted to the US
Geological Survey in Reston, VA.

GO-090-P  GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION.
R. Butler, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS)

The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project.

Global seismic events were recorded throughout the month

AO-106-P  STUDIES OF LIGHTNING-INDUCED ELECTRON PRECIPITATION OF THE
IONOSPHERE.
U. Inan, Stanford University

The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project.

The Stanford receiver records very low frequency (VLF) radio waves for
studying ionospheric and magnetospheric natural phenomena. The broadband
computer halted data acquisition after reporting a disk overflow error on
the 27th of December. The system was rebooted and returned to normal
operation.

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 goal of this project is to resolve seasonal and interannual variations
in atmospheric O2 (detected through changes in O2/N2 ratio) which can aid in
determining rates of marine biological productivity and ocean mixing.  The
results are also used to help determine the terrestrial and oceanic
distribution of the global anthropogenic CO2 sink.  The program involves air
sampling at a network of sites in both the Northern and Southern
Hemispheres.  Palmer Station is especially well situated for resolving
signals of carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean.  Samples taken from the
station are return-shipped to Scripps where the analysis of O2 and CO2
content takes place.

OO-254-O  CHLORINE-AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN ANTARCTICA.
R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science and Technology

Air samples are collected on a weekly basis by the station  physician.  

Samples are returned to the Oregon Graduate Institute for analysis of a
number of trace components, mostly chlorine-and bromine-containing gases.
These elements in particular 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.
David Hofmann, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration

Air samples are collected on a weekly basis by the station physician.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate
Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory team continues its long-term
measurements of carbon dioxide and other climate-relevant atmospheric gases.
The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA laboratory for
analysis as part of NOAA's effort to determine and assess the long-term
buildup of global pollutants in the atmosphere.  Data from this experiment
will be used in modeling studies to determine how the rate of change of
these parameters affects climate.

OO-275-O  DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM.
C. Sanderson, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory

The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project.

The Remote Atmospheric Measurements Program (RAMP) is part of a global
network seeking to characterize the quantity and distribution of
radionuclide particles occurring both naturally and artificially in the
atmosphere.

One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly
schedule of calibration, background and sample counts was maintained.  New
filter cartridges were received and modified to fit current configuration.
Old cartridges are no longer in use due to sealing problems.

OO-283-P  ANTARCTIC AUTOMATED WEATHER STATIONS.
Charles Stearns, University of Wisconsin 

Automated Weather Station (AWS) transmissions from Bonaparte Point, Hugo
Island, and RACER Rock were monitored using the TeraScan system.  The
Bonaparte Point unit continued to send an invalid wind speed, presumably due
to a CPU failure, the Hugo Island unit currently is not  broadcasting, and
reception of broadcasts from the RACER Rock unit has been erratic since
06/07 October.  Repair of the AWSs is contingent on the arrival of new parts
and on vessel scheduling to access the remote sites.

TO-312-O TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM
R. Whritner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project.

Throughout the month of December, the TeraScan system collected, archived
and processed DMSP, NOAA, and encrypted SeaWiFS satellite pass telemetry,
maintaining a schedule of 20-25 passes per day.  NOAA, DMSP, and encrypted
SeaWiFS telemetry were archived for BP-032-O when the LTER grid was clear of
clouds.  85 GHz SSM/I ice concentration images were produced and sent to
BP-032-O on a weekly basis.  Numerous images, infrared, visible and
microwave-derived "ice concentration" were produced and sent to the R/V
LAURENCE M. GOULD throughout the month to assist in cruise planning.

TO-513-O  UV MONITORING NETWORK.
C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc.

The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the
project.

Throughout the month, daily raw irradiance data scans were collected and
transmitted to BSI, and preliminary irradiances and spectral integrals were
produced for on-site researchers.  Absolute calibration scans were performed
as scheduled.