PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP AUGUST 2001 NEWS FROM THE LAB Brett C. Pickering, Winter Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations Palmer Station experienced the tragic loss of a station member. Thomas Leipart, age 36 and a painter who had spent the winter at Palmer, redeployed to Punta Arenas, Chile on the 27th of August. After reaching Punta Arenas on the 1st of September he fell down a flight of stairs and consequently sustained a fatal head injury. His wife Cindy flew from Arizona to be with him in the hospital until his unfortunate death the night of September 5th. The station sends our deepest regrets and condolences to his wife, daughter and parents. Activity in the Palmer Station Laboratories primarily consisted of preparing for the upcoming summer field season and providing support for the LTER Ice Cruise. Materials and equipment requested by the science groups have been issued and staged in the labs. Twenty boxes of supplies for four LTER groups were gathered, labeled and transferred to the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD. Many of the items used by grantees during the SO GLOBEC cruises were returned to the labs. During August FEMC continued to work on the sand blasting of the support beams beneath Biolab. The other major project was the sheet rocking of GWR garage and supply. The sheet rock work was completed in these areas with the exception of taping of the seams, which will be completed once additional supplies reach the station. The R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD returned to Palmer Station at the end of the month after its SO GLOBEC cruise. During the two-day port call cargo was placed on the ship and laboratory supplies were returned to the station. Grantees from the ship were allowed to utilize the laboratories for sample processes, weighing chemicals and autoclaving glassware and other items. August was an extremely windy month with and average wind speed of 17knots making it the second windiest August during the 1989-2001 period. Our peak gust was 89 knots (102 mph) on the 14th. The average temperature was 5.1 C with a high of +2.2 C and a low of 16.9 C. Precipitation continues to be lower than average for the year. The melted accumulation for the year through August was 411 mm (529 is the 10 year average through the month) and snowfall of 181 cm (255 cm is the 10 year average through the month). 86 mm of melted accumulation fell during the month with 47 cm of snow. The snow stake ended the month at 60 cm (the 10 year average for the 31st of August is also 60 cm) with a maximum 91 (only two other Augusts had higher snow stake readings). With the wind most of the snow depth can be attributed to drifting rather than snowfall. The drifting has been the bane of all who have kept doors and walkways open. Wildlife sightings became more rare during the month. However, the following animals were seen: Adelie Penguins, Antarctic Terns, Blue-eyed Shags, Crab Eater Seals, Elephant Seals, Giant Petrels, Kelp Gulls, Pintado Petrels, Sheathbills, Snow Petrels, and Weddell Seals. 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. The Laboratory Supervisor conducts the weekly sampling. Water was sampled weekly from Palmer Station's seawater intake. Water and air temperatures as well as sea ice coverage was noted during each sampling. The samples were then filtered in a darkened laboratory and stored in a 70 C 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. The system has been operating smoothly. 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. The system lost connection to the network and had to be rebooted to reestablish connection. Other than that the system has been running smoothly. Data tapes were shipped back to the US. 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. CDs and BETA tapes have been shipped to the US. Extended Continues Broadband BETA recordings were made through 15 August. The cable supporting the data line down the glacier had cut itself free from the support posts. New nail/hooks where installed and the cable was re-hung. The antenna loop had its bottom portion covered by drifting snow and ice. The cable was carefully freed from the snow and ice. Part of the cable on the lower portion of the glacier had been covered in a snowdrift. The cable was carefully removed. 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. During the week of 24 August, strong winds had caused a back draft in the pumping assembly dislodging the filter part way through the sampling process. The filter was readjusted and sampling continued. Used filters and floppy disks were shipped to the US. 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 and RACER Rock units have not been broadcasting data. 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 acquisition program crashed a few times during the last week of August. A couple of emails have been sent to the project contact requesting help in debugging the program. 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. There were problems with the SCSI chain. After a few reboots and some adjustments the system resumed normal operations. Satellite Ice imagery support was supplied to the LMG during the GLOBEC cruise. Data tapes have been packed for shipment to the US 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 site visit kit has been shipped to the US. 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. NOTE: THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO LACK OF FUNDING. The last air samples where shipped to the US. Air samples are collected on a weekly basis by the station physician. This project reached the end of its funding this month. The last air samples were shipped back to the grantee at the end of the month. 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.