PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP MAY 2001 NEWS FROM THE LAB. Brett Pickering, Asst. Supervisor, Laboratory Operations May was a quiet month for science at Palmer Station. There were no grantees on station and the R/V Laurence M. Gould only made one port call during the month. This port call was a short stop of several hours to load cargo and personnel to be returned to Punta Arenas. Work in the labs consisted of preparations for the incoming grantees scheduled to arrive in mid-June. The aquarium-plumbing project was completed during May. The old seawater piping was removed and replaced with new pipes and valves that are supported by a strong frame system. A new valving system was fabricated so that all flow adjustments can occur by adjusting valves coupled with flow meters that are located on the tanks themselves. The previous system's valves were located high over head and required the use of a ladder to make any adjustments. We were treated to a unique visit by a King Penguin during the first five days of May. King Penguins normally reside off the coast of South America and there has only been one other sighting of this species on or near the Antarctic Peninsula. The number of fur seals near the station fell off significantly, since last month. Other fauna that was sighted during the month were: Adelie Penguins, Antarctic Terns, Blue-eyed Shags, Elephant Seals, Fur Seals, Gentoo Penguins, Giant Petrels, Kelp Gulls, Minke Whales, Pintado Petrels, Sheathbills, Snow Petrels, and Weddell Seals. The month began with the Palmer area being blanketed with a significant snow cover of 26 cm. However, there were nine consecutive days without snow cover beginning on the 15th of the month, due to storms that brought warm temperatures and rain. The temperature range for the month was +5.3 C to -7.5 C with and average of +0.4C. Precipitation fell 22 days of month, with 14 days of snowfall with a total accumulation of 34.3 mm of precipitation. The following programs were involved in research at Palmer Station: 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 The Laboratory Supervisor conducts the weekly sampling. Water is sampled from Palmer Station's seawater intake. The samples are then filtered in a darkened laboratory and stored in a -70 freezer for subsequent processing. 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. GPS system has been operating smoothly. The RAM for the NT computer was increased to 96MB. Service Pack six was installed. The position of the glacier terminus was measured with the Ashtech Z-12 Rover with CPD Differential. 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. System has been operating smoothly. Digital photos were taken of the interior of the seismic vault along with measurements of available space. More equipment is expected to be added later this year. 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. One of the large data files FTP'd to Stanford University in April was corrupted during the file transfer. This file was sent again. Data tapes and CDs have been shipped to the Grantee. 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. Weekly filter changes and monthly disk change were completed. Monthly control filter cartridge was prepared. Filters and data tapes have been shipped to the grantees. OO-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATED WEATHER STATIONS. Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin. The Science Technician monitors data transmissions for the project. 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 has not been broadcasting data. 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. R-035 TIDE GAUGE. Tony Amos, Point of Contact, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The system has been operating normally. There has been a glitch in the data display. A fix is being worked on. The glitch only affects the on-station display. The data collection and archiving has been unaffected. 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. Daily ice and weather imagery were provided to the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD during the GLOBEC cruise. There have been some temporary problems with the tape drives. The problems did not directly impact the operation of TeraScan system. The problems did cause a delay in making backup copies of data to be shipped back to the States, so data will be sent out on the next ship. 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. Systems have been running smoothly. The UV collectors have been taken off line for the Annual Site Visit. 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.