PALMER STATION SCIENCE MONTHLY REPORT December 2003 Dr. Tad Day, Station Science Leader NEWS FROM THE LAB Cara M. Sucher, Sr. Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations Another month has flown by. Early in December the Gould altered her schedule and came to Palmer Station two weeks earlier than anticipated. Originally scheduled to drop two field groups off at Vega and Seymour Islands, they where thwarted by multi-year ice, bergs, and large, tabular floes choking the Antarctic Sound. The two December port calls were condensed into one slightly longer call, and cargo and passengers transfers were made. Artist and writer Lucy Bledsoe, Station Manager Joe Pettit, and a member of B-028 (Ross/Quetin) departed station while Area Director Bob Farrell, Langdon Quetin (B-028), a member of B-013 (Fraser) and Tad Day and his team (B-003) joined the community. During the port call, the PIs for the Vega and Seymour Islands projects, Judd Case and Daniel Blake respectively, presented a fascinating science lecture about their research titled "Eocene Mammals and Birds from Seymour Island and the Dinosaurs from James Ross and Vega Islands: Answers and New Questions". Other lectures this month included Langdon Quetin (B-028) on "Living and Working With Antarctic Krill: The People and the Places" and Heidi Geisz (B-013) and Peter Horne (B- 016, Vernet) about their work with Stellar Sea Lions on the Alaskan island Ugamak this past summer. Tourist season began with the arrival of the M/V Clipper Adventurer. Many of the 115 passengers were AAAS members and very excited to see Palmer Station. After a short onboard lecture, all passengers landed at Palmer for the traditional tour, store visit and fresh-baked brownies. The S/Y Sarah W. Vorwerk, a 54Õ steel-hulled yacht from Ushuaia, visited Palmer towards the end of the month with eight guests and two crew members. The multi-national group was given a tour and had lunch with station personnel. January promises to be a much busier tourist month, with seven cruise ships and one yacht visit on the schedule. As always, Palmer celebrated the holidays with style and flair. The dining room was decorated with lights, stockings, a tree and a menorah. The Saturday before Christmas, station personnel cooked a Hannukah dinner with traditional foods such as latkes and kugel. Christmas dinner was a fantastic feast of turkey, stuffing and a variety of desserts, followed the next evening with the traditional gift exchange. Although the icebergs and whales that were so predominant last season are a rare sight now, there is only one word to describe DecemberÕs weather: stunning. Almost every day this month has been at least partly sunny and the winds have remained low Š compare that to December 2002, which saw 31 overcast days. Temperatures have been consistently above 0C with a few days reaching as high as 6C. Only 4.3mm of melted precipitation was measured compared to last yearÕs 80.9mm. The following projects conducted research at Palmer Station during December: B-003-P: RESPONSE OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS ALONG THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA TO A CHANGING CLIMATE Thomas A. Day, Principal Investigator, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Personnel on station: Thomas A. Day, Christopher T. Ruhland, Ji-Hyung Park, Sarah Strauss We arrived at Palmer Station on November 30 after an enjoyable crossing. During our southbound transit on LMG03-09 we measured ultraviolet radiation (UV) and visible light levels along our route and sent these data back to our home institution where 60 undergraduate students in an environmental science class used this information, in conjunction with satellite-base measurements of ozone levels provided by NASA, in their final class project. After moving on station on December 1, we began testing designs for our climate manipulation plots that we are placing in the backyard behind Palmer Station. In these plots we will modify temperature, ultraviolet radiation (UV) and precipitation regimes to mimic future climate change along the Peninsula, and examine how these changes affect terrestrial plants and associated soils that we will place in the plots. Initial tests of warming manipulations, using infrared (IR) heaters, were conducted in an environmental room on station where we could maintain ambient temperatures and exclude the confounding effect of changing solar energy inputs. This allowed us to determine the optimal height and orientation of IR heaters to achieve the desired input of short-wave radiation and warming. On December 9 we began outdoor tests with IR heaters behind station. We also conducted outdoor tests to determine the design of UV- screening filters that will be used to reduce UV levels reaching plants in the plots. Prior to this, we calibrated ten UV dosimeters by comparing their outputs to that of the GUV spectroradiometer at T5 during a 5-day outdoor comparison. By mid-month we had determined an optimal filter design that would reduce UV levels to those needed to offset UV- enhancements occurring during ozone depletion, while at the same time not filtering or shading UV in adjacent control plots. Further testing and refinements in UV-filter design continue in order to provide us with an assortment of filters that will reduce UV levels across a range of enhancements or ozone-depletion scenarios. To characterize how our manipulations alter the complete microclimate of plots, we are measuring several parameters (temperature, UV and visible radiation levels, wind speed, relative humidity, vapor pressure deficit) every 30 seconds under test plots behind station and will continue this through the end of next month. The exceptionally dry and calm conditions during December allowed us to accomplish a considerable amount of fieldwork both behind station, as well as on outlying islands. We visited Biscoe Point on December 19 (with Heidi Geisz, Cindy Anderson, Dan Evans and Brett Pickering of B-013-P) for a reconnaissance of plant collecting sites. We returned to collect plant/soil cores on December 22 and 23. We have collected 180 of the 240 cores we require for our climate manipulation experiment behind station. We also visited Stepping Stones on 19 December, taking photographs of 90 small plots that we have been monitoring for trends in vegetation since 1995. We thank all personnel at Palmer Station for their willingness to give us a hand, often unsolicited or at very short notice. Special thanks go to Andy Martinez for his insights on plot construction design, and his group for providing excellent support in constructing the field plot bases (Bob Jirschele, Jeff Gustafson, Ryan Wallace) and running electrical service to the plots (Dan Weisblatt). Thanks also to Doug Fink for outstanding boating support, Bob Farrell for making our transition to station life a smooth one, Ken Navarro and Cara Sucher for insuring that our southbound cargo made it off ship, and Skip Owens (MPC, LMG03-09) for overseeing a productive and efficient transit to Palmer. B-013-P: PALMER, ANTARCTICA LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: CLIMATE MIGRATION, ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE AND TELECONNECTIONS IN AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT: SEABIRD COMPONENT William R. Fraser, Principal Investigator, Polar Oceans Research Group, Sheridan, MT. B-198-P: MONITORING THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABILITY ON ADELIE PENGUINS AT PALMER STATION, ANTARCTICA William R. Fraser, Principal Investigator, Polar Oceans Research Group, Sheridan, MT. Personnel on station: Heidi Geisz, Cindy Anderson, Dan Evans, Brett Pickering Uncommonly fantastic weather in December allowed us to work efficiently twenty-nine days. We had only one day and one evening lost to high wind conditions. Though densely packed brash ice prevented us from landing on Biscoe Island for a week, the ice around Station was not prohibitive. Bill Fraser and Jordan Watson arrived in early January while Brett Pickering and Heidi Geisz departed on the annual LTER summer cruise. Adelie penguin populations were monitored on Torgersen, Humble, Litchfield, Christine, and Cormorant Islands. Reproductive sites were followed on Torgersen and Humble giving us true hatch dates all of our site nests. Satellite transmitters were deployed in rotation on breeding male and female Adelies. Twenty-four radio telemetry tags have been deployed on Adelies to monitor presence/absence in a large colony. A census of breeding Chinstrap penguins was conducted on Dream Island and a successful landing on Biscoe allowed a census of breeding Gentoos. South Polar and Brown Skua study sites have been visited every five days to determine arrival dates, pair formation, territory establishment, egg lay dates and chick hatch dates. The south polar skuas have arrived in great numbers and full clutch nests are present throughout the islands. Brown skuas began hatching in early January. Blue-eyed shag chicks hatched midmonth and are being monitored every five days on Cormorant Island. Marine mammal observations were conducted daily within the two-mile boating limit. Southern Giant Petrel work began in early December with a census of a small breeding population on Humble Island to be monitored throughout the remainder of the season. Midmonth, active nest and band resight censuses were conducted throughout the Palmer area islands. Satellite transmitters were deployed on breeding males and females December 5 and have been rotated to new subjects every two weeks. Though all of our December tourist visits were cancelled, we had one visit from a yacht midmonth. Special thanks to Jeff Kietzmann, the Comms Tech, for assistance in initializing our radio telemetry equipment and to the FEMC department for maintenance performed our telemetry hut. Additional thanks to Doug Fink, John Evans and Kristin van Konynenburg for assistance in preparation for the LTER cruise Avian Island field camp. B-016-P: PALMER, ANTARCTICA LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: CLIMATE MIGRATION, ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE AND TELECONNECTIONS IN AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT: PHYTOPLANKTON ECOLOGY COMPONENT Maria Vernet, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography B-032-P: PALMER, ANTARCTICA LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: CLIMATE MIGRATION, ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE AND TELECONNECTIONS IN AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT: BIO-OPTICS, REMOTE SENSING, SEA ICE COMPONENT Raymond C. Smith, Principal Investigator, ICESS, University of California at Santa Barbara Personnel on station: Wendy Kozlowski, Karie Sines, Peter Horne and Bryan White (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) Beautiful weather once again allowed regular sampling throughout the month of December. Stations B and E were sampled for the core parameters a total of nine times over the course of the month. Station B water was used for four more UV exposure production experiments, as well as for four more microzooplankton grazing experiments. One time series sea-water-intake experiment, and seven bi-weekly samplings were also completed in conjunction with the Chelsea Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometer. Preliminary results of standard primary production estimates show monthly averages nearly twice as high as seen during the same period in 2002, with a large pulse of high production from a bloom during the third week of the month. Qualitative analysis of ring net samples during this time show the bloom was dominated by chain forming diatoms (Chatoceros sp., Thalassiosira sp., and Eucampia antarctica), with other large diatoms (Corethron sp. Coscinidiscus sp., and Rhizosolenia sp.) also present. With the arrival of some replacement boards on the LMG in late November, data collection with the Autonomous Profiling Vehicle (APV) is again possible. In total, the instrument was deployed for a total of 19 days during the month, and data is being sent regularly to Ocean Sensors for evaluation. The TD-700 fluorometer was also calibrated this month, and all other instruments are functioning well, with samples read on the 10-AU, the HPLC and the nutrient analyzer during the month. We would like once again to thank Jeff Kietzmann for his untiring help with the APV and PRR. Thanks also to boating coordinator Doug Fink for his assistance in the setup and use of the self- tailing winch now used for mooring recovery, and to the carpenters for their quick and creative solutions to our construction requests. B-028-P: PALMER, ANTARCTICA LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: CLIMATE MIGRATION, ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE AND TELECONNECTIONS IN AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT: PREY COMPONENT Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin, Principal Investigators, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara Personnel at Palmer Station: Langdon Quetin, Brian Cheng, Dan Martin Early in December L. Quetin replaced D. Martin at Palmer Station. D. Martin departed earlier than expected due to a decision to limit port calls of the Laurence M. Gould for the cruise to one rather than two. Calm weather for the month of December allowed our weekly sampling schedule to proceed without interruption. The old BioSonics acoustic system was put into service and used throughout the month to assess krill biomass twice weekly on the LTER transects in the vicinity of Palmer Station. Based on the acoustic transects krill moved into the area and remained abundant for the last 1.5 weeks of December. This month we continued to catch and preserve krill for assessment of chemical composition, carbon and nitrogen, length frequency, sexual maturity and rates of growth. Krill caught toward the end of the month ranged from sub-adult to females in spawning condition. Growth experiments during this period indicated the occurrence of synchronous molting in the area. Phytoplankton cultures remain healthy but slow growing and have recently been transferred into larger vessels. Cruise preparations at Palmer Station for the annual LTER cruise are complete. Support at the station continues to be excellent. A special thanks to Doug Fink, the boating coordinator, and the LTER "bird" team for spotting bird aggregations which are an indication of dense krill schools at the surface. Their observations resulted in successful krill tows and allowed us to stock tanks in the aquarium room for later feeding experiments. Also a special thanks to Jeff Kietzmann and Barbara Watson for rigging a new inverter for our zodiac after the old one avoidably failed. We would have had a large gap in our acoustic samples for the year without their efforts. B-045-P: PALMER, ANTARCTICA LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: CLIMATE MIGRATION, ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE AND TELECONNECTIONS IN AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT: MICROBIAL/BIOGEOCHEMISTRY COMPONENT Hugh Ducklow, Principal Investigator, School of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary Personnel on station: Lauren Rogers and Mary Turnipseed During the month of December, we continued our regular sampling at stations B and E in the Palmer Station vicinity. For the most part, we had sunshine and low winds that allowed for pleasant sampling throughout the month. Our schedule was interrupted only once by bad weather that cleared up in time for us to sample the following day. While out collecting water, we were visited frequently by curious gentoo penguins, and once by a low-flying airplane. During December, we also continued with our weekly large volume seawater filtrations for organic biomarkers. Twice, on December 12 and 19, our group worked together with the phytoplankton group on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release experiments. December was also busy with preparations for the January 2004 LTER cruise. Work continues on the Shimadzu TOC-5000A. Dissolved organic carbon analyses will be much improved by the arrival in January of low-carbon water and deep seawater references from the Hansell lab at the University of Miami. This will allow us to better constrain the blank of the instrument, and to correct for its variability. We would like to thank all RPSC personnel on station for their support this month, especially Wendy Beeler and Marge Bolton for their delicious holiday meals and treats. G-052-P GPS CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING REFERENCE STATION Jerry Mullins, Principal Investigator, U.S. Geological Survey The Research Associate 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. G-090-P GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH NETWORK (GSN) SITE AT PALMER STATION Rhett Butler, Principal Investigator, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) The Research Associate 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 real-time to the U.S. Geological Survey. O-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. O-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. O-275-O DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM (RAMP) Colin Sanderson, Principal Investigator, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory The Research Associate 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. O-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATIONS (AWS) Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin The Research Associate monitors data transmissions for the project. AWS transmissions from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and Racer Rock were monitored using the TeraScan system. AWS data received was also forwarded to UCSB for BP-032-P (Smith). A-306-P GLOBAL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE RADIATION BELTS AND THE LOWER IONOSPHERE Umran Inan, Principal Investigator, Stanford University 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 recorded for 6 hours/day. Narrowband continuous data was collected for 12 hours each day. T-312-O TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM Dan Lubin, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP, NOAA and Orbview (SeaWiFS) 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). Visible spectrum sea ice images were also produced in support of operations aboard the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD, and to grantees for cruise planning purposes. T-513-O ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRORADIOMETER NETWORK Charles Booth, Principal Investigator, Biospherical Instruments, Inc The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project A BSI SUV-100 UV spectroradiometer 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. A BSI GUV-511 filter radiometer, which has 4 channels in the UV and 1 channel in the visible for measuring Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), has recently been installed next to the SUV-100. Data from the GUV-511 instrument is made available on a daily basis on the projectÕs website www.biospherical.com/nsf/ . TIDE GAGE Tony Amos, Point of Contact, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Tide height, seawater temperature and salinity are monitored on a continual basis by a gage mounted at the Palmer Station pier. METEOROLOGY The Research Associate acts as chief weather observer, and compiles and distributes meteorological data. At the end of the month a summary report was prepared and sent to interested parties. Weather data collected using the automated electronic system is archived locally and forwarded weekly to the University of Wisconsin for their forecasting models and data records. Beginning in December, synoptic weather observations were automated. This change realized an immediate increase from three manual observations to four automated synoptic reports each day. Reliability of synoptic report transmission has also improved significantly. Previously, under the system of relaying the synoptic observations manually by HF radio, some of the reports did not enter the Global Telemetry Stream (GTS) within the established time limit or contained transcription errors, and were therefore discarded. Now all observations are submitted electronically and accepted in the GTS immediately.