PALMER STATION SCIENCE MONTHLY REPORT July 2003 NEWS FROM THE LAB Sonja Wolter, Winter Assistant Supervisor Prescript: There was a change of heart on the e-mail account renaming after the last monthly report went out, so please take note once again. The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) is undergoing a network migration, which affects, among other things, e-mail addresses. Palmer Station completed its migration in mid-July, so please update your address for the Laboratory Supervisor to: palmer.labs@usap.gov This month we were saddened by news from Rothera Station of the death of one their scientists, who was pulled under by a leopard seal while snorkeling. Our thoughts have been with them. At Palmer, the month of July was a quiet one with no ship visits, so the crew settled into a regular work schedule. In the laboratories and chemical storage areas, general cleanup and inventory have continued. FEMC began the process of sealing the air handler ductwork; anyone who works in the labs will be very pleased to hear that this has made a significant improvement in the noise level issue. FEMC also added a shelf to the Volatiles Van, which will help reduce the crowding on the shelves. The zodiacs were removed from the water to protect them and their motors from the brash ice, so wildlife sightings for the month include only what has been seen from near the station. Thanks to the sharp eyes of one of the crewmembers, several whales were spotted near DeLaca Island, though no one was able to make a positive identification on the exact type of whale. Other wildlife sightings for the month included: Leopard Seals; Elephant Seals; Blue-Eyed Shags; Kelp Gulls; Sheathbills; Snow Petrels; Giant Petrels; and Adelie or Gentoo Penguins. July brought 90.2 mm of precipitation on 25 of the month’s 31 days. This included 50 cm of snow, which accumulated to a maximum 85 cm near the beginning of the month. The Palmer Station crew saw 26 cloudy days, one partly cloudy day and four clear days. Temperatures reached as high as +3.4ºC and as low as –11.0ºC. The winds gusted to a maximum of 74 knots and averaged 16 knots for the month. The following projects conducted research at Palmer Station during July: GO-052-P GPS CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING REFERENCE STATION 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 GPS epoch data was collected continually at station PALM, compressed, and transmitted to the USGS in Reston, VA. This month a passive tracer was drilled into the glacier and GPS readings were taken of it in order to monitor glacial motion. GO-090-P GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH NETWORK (GSN) SITE AT PALMER STATION 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 real time. OO-204-O A STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN VARIABILITY IN RELATION TO ANNUAL TO DECADAL VARIATIONS IN TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS Ralph Keeling, Principal Investigator Scripps Institution of Oceanography Air samples are collected on a semiweekly 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 sent 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 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 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) 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. OO-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATIONS (AWS) 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 RACER Rock anemometer is broken. The Hugo Island AWS is not currently transmitting. The Bonaparte Point AWS failed during the month and was repaired. AO-306-P GLOBAL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE RADIATION BELTS AND THE LOWER IONOSPHERE 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 strikes that are a principle source of natural VLF signals. Broadband synoptic data was recorded on a schedule of 3 out of every 15 minutes each day, and broadband continuous data was collected for 6 hours/day. Narrowband continuous data was collected for 6 hours each day. TO-312-O TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM Dan Lubin, Principal Investigator Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Science Technician operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Ice images for an upcoming research cruise were made using TeraScan data this month. Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP and NOAA satellite telemetry, capturing approximately 25 passes per day. Weekly 85GHz SSM/I “ice concentration” images were produced and transferred to UCSB for BP-032-P (Smith). 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 45 Watt Calibration Lamp was changed this month. 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. 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 seawater temperature and salinity are monitored on a continual basis by a gage mounted at the Palmer Station pier. METEOROLOGY The Science Technician acts as chief weather observer, and compiles and distributes meteorological data. Each day, three synoptic weather observations were performed, coded, and sent to Rothera Station via HF radio. At the end of the month, a summary report was prepared and sent to interested parties. The Science Technician is working with the RPSC meteorologist, project engineer, and Coastal Environmental Systems, the maker of the software, to establish automated synoptic report generation.