PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP April 2002 NEWS FROM THE LAB Cherie M. Wilson, Winter Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations The BioLab remodel project has been in full swing this month. Demolition activities are complete, with the removal of walls, plumbing, electrical wiring, furniture, and flooring from all the labs. Framing has started on the new lab walls and plumbing for drain lines and electrical wiring has begun. Carpet is replacing the tile floor in the Computer Lab, and a new floor is going into Lab 4. Work in the Mechanical Room is almost complete; the new boilers and water pressure tank have been moved in, the boiler pipes put in place, and work on the beams and drywall is almost finished. The old darkroom, on the Admin Hallway, has been painted and carpeted, and work has begun on moving the PBX system in. Concrete footers have been successfully poured for the new Earth Station, and work continues as scheduled. The ARA ALMIRANTE IRIZAR visited Palmer Station this month. VIP's from the ship, including Raul Benmuyal, Capitan de Navio, Comandante de la Fuerza Naval Antartica, Comandante Conjunto Antartico, came ashore for a tour and presented Palmer Station with gifts (a framed set of hand tied mariner's knots and a large book illustrating the Argentinean Antarctic Program). During the month a pair of humpback whales were sited in Arthur Harbor, and later, a single humpback entertained the station by spending a whole Sunday morning lolling about in Arthur Harbor. Other sitings included Elephant Seals, Crabeater Seals, Fur Seals, Leopard Seals, Brown Skuas, Wilson's Storm Petrel, Giant Petrels, Cormorants, Snowy Sheathbills, Gentoo Penguins, and Kelp Gulls. Stormy weather and high winds brought out the Petrels as well as a short visit from a school of krill that dramatically increased the concentration of wildlife around Palmer Station. Winds also drove five icebergs into Hero Inlet, necessitating the removal of the boats from the water to prevent damage. Rain, high winds, and temperatures above 0 degrees C caused the loss of snow cover from large areas of the glacier which were permeated with very small melt holes, making the glacier surface look like frozen swiss cheese. Although we had 23 days with precipitation (18 of which were snow), there was more melting than accumulating. Temperatures were above freezing most of the time, with a high of 5.2 degrees C and a low of -6.7 degrees C. We experienced several storms with high winds gusting up to 55 knots, though most days were relatively calm and cloudy. We had one day where grease ice began to form on the sea surface, but on most days there was only light brash from the glacier calving in Arthur Harbor. The following projects conducted research at Palmer Station this month: BP-013-O: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT) Dr. William R. Fraser, Principal Investigator, Polar Oceans Research Group, Sheridan, MT. George Ryan and Jennifer Jerrett made weekly weight measurements of the southern giant petrel chicks on Humble Island. AO-106-P: GLOBAL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE RADIATION BELTS AND THE LOWER IONOSPHERE Dr. Umran Inan, Principal Investigator, Stanford University. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The Stanford equipment receives and records Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio waves in order to study natural ionospheric and magnetospheric phenomena, as well as to study the distribution of the lightning strokes that are a principle source of natural VLF signals. An investigation was made into the possibility that the faulty E/W signal from the BB1 output of the A>D 2000 box noted during the PI's site visit was a result of an improper internal DIP switch setting. This did not prove to be the case, but after the DIP switch card in the box was examined and reseated, a trial run of the broadband continuous acquisition system on BB1 produced good data on both N/S and E/W channels, although the channels were reversed. Following the test, BBC acquisition was returned to "Troy's box", where it will remain unless the grantees express a preference for the full strength but channel reversed signal over the weaker and inverted, but properly labeled, signal now being recorded. The antenna loop positions were finalized for winter operations on 18 April. A new north post was placed to properly align that loop, insulators were raised or lowered to flatten the bottom loop sections as much as possible, and all loops were tightened to give the proper droop. The insulator positions were verified with the rover Z-12 GPS in CPD mode, and both loops are within a few tenths of a degree (roughly the measurement error of the GPS) of alignment with the cardinal geographic directions. The messenger cable was tightened along its run up the glacier. On 26 April, a broadband continuous file was transferred to the broadband synoptic computer to use the viewing software there to examine it. The file was viewed successfully, but in the process, the synoptic data acquisition program hung. Restarting and rebooting were not successful, with no GPS lock obtained. Examination of the other computers showed they also were not receiving a valid GPS signal, although the GPS clock appeared still to be functioning properly. Power cycling the GPS clock and rebooting all the computers returned operations to normal. Synoptics were missed at 1920 and 1935 UT. GO-052-P: GPS CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING REFERENCE STATION Dr. Jerry Mullins, Principal Investigator, U.S. Geological Survey. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Throughout the month, 15-second epoch GPS transmissions were collected continually at station PALM. Each day, the previous day's data file was examined for completeness, compressed, and transmitted to the USGS in Reston, VA. At the request of the grantees, they were provided with digital photographs of the antenna and its environs and of the receiver and logging equipment. Static GPS surveys were performed on the benchmark HUM2 on 06 April and on the benchmark HUM1 on 20 April. GO-090-P: GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH NETWORK (GSN) SITE AT PALMER STATION Dr. Rhett Butler, Principal Investigator, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Station PMSA is one of more than 130 sites in the GSN, monitoring seismic waves produced by events worldwide. Data files are recorded to tape and also sent to the USGS in near real time, as the local Internet connection allows. OO-204-O: A STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN VARIABILITY IN RELATION TO ANNUAL TO DECADAL VARIATIONS IN TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS Dr. 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-264-O: COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA\CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK Dr. David Hofmann, Principal Investigator, Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory, 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 (RAMP) Dr. Colin Sanderson, Principal Investigator, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. 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. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. Confirmation was received from the grantees that the ARGOS antenna installed in early March is sending good data. Chances are good that the old antenna still functions properly and was simply removed because its mounting became corroded, so it has been retained as a spare. OO-283-P: ANTARCTIC AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATIONS (AWS) Dr. Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin. The Science Technician monitors data transmissions for the project. 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 remain off line. A new solar panel and batteries have been received; repair of the nonfunctional AWSs is now contingent on those being the right parts and on vessel scheduling. TO-312-O: TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM Dr. Dan Lubin, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP, NOAA, and encrypted SeaWiFS satellite pass telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 20-25 passes per day. Following a grantee's report of data corruption in several DMSP passes retrieved from Palmer archive tapes, and after much investigation and testing, it was discovered that the TeraScan function archive/mwrite is not reliable. As it's not an essential function (that it's seldom used was a major factor in the delay of discovery of the problem), its use will be discontinued pending comments from SeaSpace. Late in the month, a dialogue was initiated with SeaSpace customer support regarding the hardware and software configuration necessary to replace the current HR100 receiver with a newly received HR300. Two infrared images of the Marguerite Bay region and one of the area around Anvers Island were provided to the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD during its port call prior to the GLOBEC cruise. Two more infrared images and an 85GHz SSM/I "ice concentration" image of Marguerite Bay were provided as the cruise progressed. Optimal image support for the cruise was hampered by relentlessly cloudy conditions. The final SeaWiFS pass of the summer season was captured on 17 April. Clear SeaWiFS satellite passes were archived when available for BP-032-P (Smith), and an 85GHz SSM/I "ice concentration" image was produced and transferred to UCSB for BP-032-P (Smith) on a weekly basis. TO-513-O: ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRORADIOMETER NETWORK Charles Booth, Principal Investigator, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The BSI UV monitor produces full sky irradiance spectra ranging from the atmospheric UV cutoff near 290nm up to 605nm, four times per hour, while the sun is above the horizon. Limited preliminary results are available on-site in near real time, while fully calibrated data sets are made available by BSI on a periodic basis. Absolute Scans were performed on 11 and 25 April. Preliminary UV data files for the month of March were provided to Chris Hewes of UCSD. Preliminary UV data files were made available on-site on a daily basis for BP-016-P (Vernet). TIDE GAGE Tony Amos, Point of Contact, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Tide height and sea water temperature and salinity are monitored on a continual basis by a gage mounted at the Palmer Station pier. Data collection was interrupted for two hours on 14 April due to the relocation of a UPS in BioLab and also for four hours on 20 April when power from the same UPS was inadvertently shut off. SYNOPTIC WEATHER OBSERVATIONS Each day, three synoptic weather observations were performed, coded, and sent to Rothera Station via HF radio. The review of weather records from 2001 was completed, as observations from November and December were checked, and corrections were made wherever necessary and possible. Updated monthly summaries for the entire year were provided to the POC for GO-052-P (Mullins).