PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP JANUARY 2001 William R. Fraser, Station Science Leader NEWS FROM THE LAB Cara M. Sucher, Senior Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations The New Year brought with it a flurry of activity. The AS/RV LAURENCE M. GOULD arrived for the annual Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project summer cruise, on which most of the science personnel on station participated. It also brought with it Dr. Don Atwood, Director of Science at Raytheon Polar Services Company and Dr. Polly Penhale, Program Manager for Antarctic Biology and Medicine at NSF. Although many grantees left station for the cruise, Tony Amos, a researcher at University of Texas, arrived to replace Palmer's aging tide gauge. With the help of FEMC, Operations, and Science Support, the new tide gauge was installed, programmed and has been successfully collecting data. We will back up the data on station, but Tony will be the main tide gauge POC (afamos@utmsi.utexas.edu) and should be contacted for long-term data, predictions and interpretation. January also brought the start of the tour season at Palmer Station, with four ships and a few yachts arriving for visits. Two tourist aquarium tanks were built and set up just behind the aquarium garage door. The tanks were filled with animals collected in October from a benthic trawl off of King George Island for the DeMaster/Smith project (BO-303-O). Fauna include a variety of sea stars, sea spiders, octopi, anenomes, sea cucumbers, tunicates, urchins, sponges, volutes, isopods, whelks, shrimp, and some coral. A separate tank was set up nearby with four full-size rock cod caught near station. The tourists also got a kick out of the elephant seals, who have again set up camp just beyond the aquarium deck. Support staff were kept busy providing lectures on the ships and guiding tours on station while Tony Amos volunteered as the interpreter for the display tanks. In anticipation of the arrival of the U.S. Antarctic Treaty inspection team in February, a large effort has been put into straightening up the station. An afternoon was spent "daisy picking" (picking up all visible bits of trash), FEMC has organized and retro-ed much of the materials outside the storage milvans and behind GWR, the laboratories have been reorganized, and the bar decorated with plaques and flags from past visitors. The weather has not been quite as nice as it was in November and December, with only six days being partly cloudy and almost 22mm of precipitation. The temperature has been quite pleasant, however, with an average of 2.5=B0C and a high of 9.5=B0C on the 13th! Boating access has continued almost unhindered though there is quite a bit of brash around from active glacier calving. The following programs were involved in research at Palmer Station: BP-013-O: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH 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, Donna L. Patterson, Chris Denker, Heidi Geisz and Erik Chapman (LTER cruise). Continued good access to our island study sites during January has allowed us to maintain the timely acquisition of the LTER Seabird Component core data. On 2 January we initiated Adelie Penguin diet sampling and on 8 January the Golden Fleece (Jerome Ponce, Captain) provided assistance with a census of penguin populations on the Joubin Islands. On 9 January we deployed 25 radio transmitters to begin collecting data on the duration of foraging trips, an index of krill availability. These studies will continue into the month of February. On 21 January, coincident with creching of the last remaining chicks, we ended studies on the breeding biology of Adelie Penguins initiated in early October. Several satellite-linked transmitters (PTTs) were also deployed at this time on Adelie Penguins to begin testing these instruments for the GLOBEC program. A variety of area-wide censuses related to breeding chronology and chick production were also completed by the end of the month, which also observed the end of the annual LTER January cruise. Erik Chapman and Heidi Geisz completed more than 300 transects detailing the abundance and distribution of seabirds and marine mammals in the LTER grid. Adelie Penguin diet sampling in the Avian Island (Marguerite Bay) rookery was also successful, thus further adding to the significant time series being developed for this region. As in past seasons, we have continued the acquisition 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. Our work in January benefited greatly from the able assistance provided by Raytheon Polar Services Company employees Randy Sliestra, Jeff Bechtel, Brittney Baldwin and Howard Tobin. BP-016-0 LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (PHYTOPLANKTON COMPONENT). Maria Vernet, Principal Investigator Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Personnel on station: Wendy Kozlowski, Karie Sines, Karen Pelletreau, Michael Thimgan (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), and Silvia Rodriguez (Antarctic Institute of Argentina) The month of January began with preparation for the annual summer LTER cruise. Core water column sampling at stations B and E was completed two times before moving lab equipment to the ship, twice while on board the Laurence M. Gould, and once after returning to station. Primary production estimates show the highest monthly average for the season, driven by a large bloom (primarily Thalassiosira sp. and Rhizoselenia sp.) seen at the start of the month. We would like to thank Dan Weisblatt (FEMC electrician) and Chris Mitchell (IS computer tech) for their help (and diligence and patience) with getting the isotope van up and running for the LTER cruise. BP-028-0 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED SYSTEM (PREY COMPONENT). Robin M. Ross and Langdon B.Quetin, Principal Investigators Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara. Personnel on station: Stephanie Oakes and Christopher Holmes (Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara) until Jan 9; Robin Ross, S. Oakes and Jordan Watson from Jan 26-31. Activity from 1 January to 31 January, 2001 Due to the 5.5 d delay in the start of the annual summer Palmer LTER mesoscale cruise, we continued our seasonal sampling during the first week of January. Two bioacoustics surveys each of the nearshore transects A-E and F-J were completed. The ninth growth rate experiment of the season for Antarctic krill about one year old resulted in estimates of the intermolt period of about 14 d. The consistent availability of young krill during the austral summer has allowed us to document growth rates over a full two month period. Early Monday evening, January 8th,the LM Gould arrived at Palmer Station. The offload and onload of station supplies and LTER equipment and personnel was accomplished in about 24 h. The LM Gould left Palmer Station the evening of January 9th with all BP-028 personnel, and returned the morning of January 26th. Offload of LTER equipment and personnel and onload for the northbound trip was accomplished in about 24 h. These two quick turnarounds were only possible due to the support of Raytheon personnel both on station and the ship,and to the assistance of the captain and crew of the LM Gould. We gratefully acknowledge their help. We also thank station personnel for helping us with the setup for additional growth experiments on board the ship. With the departure of the LM Gould the field team composition also changed. Robin Ross, Stephanie Oakes and Jordan Watson remained on station. With gratefully acknowledged assistance from Jeff Bechtel, the boating coordinator, we completed our boating requirements and were back on the water with a freshly painted platform for the Rubber Duke II in time to start a normal sampling schedule for the week of Jan 29 to Feb 2. Antarctic krill were scarce in the sampling area. The water was relatively warm, nearly 3=B0C, and tows resulted in large quantities of phytoplankton, larvae of a smaller species of euphausiid, Thysanoessa, and the pteropod Limacina. S. Oakes began testing of experimental protocols for her work on surface feeding in young Antarctic krill. BP-032-O LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (OPTICS COMPONENT). Raymond C. Smith, Principal Investigator ICESS, University of California at Santa Barbara. Personnel on station: Kirk Ireson The first week of January, stations E & B were sampled twice, which showed that the onset of the new year brought with it a phytoplankton bloom. Through the entire month of December, surface values of Chla were around 1 ug/L, but on the first week of January, they peaked at 26, and started dropping towards 10 ug/L. Since the end of the LTER January cruise (Jan 26), the 032 group has been transitioning. By the fourth day after the cruise, we were operational and sampled stations E & B. Since Kirk will be departing on Feb 7th, training has been taking place so that PRR and CTD deployments, and chlorophyll readings will be done by the BP-016 group until the end of the season. The rest of the supplies and equipment are being inventoried and packed for the LTER ice cruise and next field season. GO-052-P GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION. J. Mullins, Principal Investigator 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-091-P GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION. R. Butler, Principal Investigator 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, Principal Investigator 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. OO-204-O MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC O2 IN RELATION TO THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE. Ralph Keeling, Principal Investigator 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, Principal Investigator 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, Principal Investigator 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, Principal Investigator 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. OO-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATED WEATHER STATIONS. Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator 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, Principal Investigator Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Throughout the month of January, 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. TO-513-O UV MONITORING NETWORK. C. Booth, Principal Investigator 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. Calibration scans were performed as scheduled.