PALMER STATION SCIENCE MONTHLY REPORT December 2004 NEWS FROM THE LAB Langdon Quetin, Station Science Leader This month the pack ice finally departed the vicinity of Palmer Station December 26, a month later than normal based on the period from 1990 to the present. Since many of the science projects use the station_s zodiacs for their work, the pace of science activity greatly increased toward the end of the month. Based on my informal notes, we had 23 non-boating days in December due to ice conditions (18 days) or high winds (5 days). One scientist departed the station December 17 on the Laurence M. Gould, which visited the station December 16,17. Presently there are 15 scientists at the station distributed among 7 science projects. Research Associate, Johan Booth, continues to oversee data collection for 10 additional projects, operate and maintain on-site equipment for the Palmer tide gage, and serve as chief weather observer for the station. Reports specific to each project, including personnel movements, are below. Tour ships began visiting the station this month with the arrival on December 14 of the Polar Star, followed by the arrival of the yacht Sarah Vorwerk on December 28. Both visits went well and were not disruptive to science at the station. Thank you to those scientists who had and took the time to interact with the visitors to the station. Monthly weather highlights: For the year to date we have had 56.8 cm of precipitation and 290 cm of snowfall. Our maximum and minimum temperatures for the month were 9.8C-C and - 5.4C-C, respectively. The prevailing winds were from the North and Northwest, and winds averaged 6 kts. The maximum gust for the month was 48 kts on December 26. Weather details can be found in the Meteorology section below. Detailed reports by science groups are below. 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, David M. Bryant, Sarah Strauss, Michell Thomey After much preparation, we began our climate manipulation treatments in plots behind Palmer Station on December 10. The plots contain tundra microcosms or cores that we collected from an adjacent island; each microcosm consists of an intact core of terrestrial plants and associated soil. We are manipulating temperature (IR heaters) and precipitation (supplemental precipitation) regimes in the plots to mimic future climate change along the Peninsula. Specifically, we are examining how these changes affect microcosm productivity, carbon balance and nutrient cycling. We continued to monitor the microclimate in our plots, including air and soil temperatures, relative humidity and vapor pressure, and wind speed and direction. Weekly measurements of CO2 flux from the cores continued through the month, providing us estimates of net microcosm CO2 exchange and respiration. In conjunction with these measurements we are also monitoring evapotranspiration or water loss from microcosms. We are also collecting precipitation inputs and soil leachate outputs from microcosms on a weekly basis, and will analyze these for nutrient concentrations. Litter bags were placed in microcosms early in the month to allow us to assess decomposition. We also initiated an additional treatment in microcosms in early December. We suspect that nutrient cycling may be limited be available carbon in soils _ to address this we added labile carbon in the form of glucose to some microcosms. We are also monitoring growth of the two higher or flowering plant species in our microcosms, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. We completed two growth censuses this month and will continue this on a biweekly basis. This will allow us to determine leaf, shoot and flower production rates. We also surveyed recently deglaciated areas along the coast of Anvers Island, where we are monitoring the establishment of flowering plants. We thank personnel at Palmer Station for their support assistance during the month. Special thanks to Brad Kuehn, Jeff Gustafson, Tonya Edwards, Kelsi Giswold and Dan Weisblatt for assistance in preparing the climate manipulation plots in the backyard, Steve Barten for logistical support, and Chris Vitry and Shayne Clausson for assistance in resolving computer issues. B-013-L/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 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. (Combined report for B-013-L/P and B-198-P) Personnel on station: Dan Evans, Peter Horne and Brett Pickering Sea Ice continued to hamper our ability to reach area islands for penguin and other sea bird work. We were only able to use Zodiacs for 12 days during the month. The sea ice_s presence was felt until the 26th of the month when it seemed to be finally pushed out of the area. During some of the non-boating days we were able to hike over the glacier to reach Bonaparte Point and Kristy Cove, or push through ice in Hero Inlet to reach nesting populations of southern giant petrels. The reproductive study of Adelie penguins continued through the month. We were able to document a large proportion of true hatch dates for birds in our study sites. We monitored Adelie populations on the five area islands periodically. By the end of December we were able to return to Dream Island to conduct a census of Adelie and chinstrap penguin colonies and make observations for the snow impact study. Late in the month a trip was made to Biscoe Island to count numbers of Adelie and gentoo penguins. Early in December south polar skua work began as individuals began setting up their territories. Giant petrel work involved ascertaining band numbers of breeding petrels. We also deployed satellite transmitters on a number of giant petrels to follow their foraging trips. In addition we also conducted measurements of snow depths across the five local islands colonized by Adelies. Banded skuas were noted and depredated Adelie eggs were counted. Blue-eyed shags colonies were monitored through the month. Censuses of marine mammals were also conducted throughout December. Time on station was spent compiling long-term data sets, proofing data, and maintaining current data. Thanks to Bill Hance and the FEMC crew for setting up the electronics and maintaining our telemetry hut on Humble Island. We would also like to thank Vinny Gordon for his outstanding work as Boating Coordinator. B-016-L/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 Dr. Maria Vernet, Principle Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Personnel on station: Karie Sines, Eli Loomis Large amounts of ice and strong winds in the Palmer Station vicinity prevented regular sampling of inshore stations E & B during the month of December. Because of conditions Station E was only sampled twice, 18 and 30 December. Station B, being a bit more accessible, was sampled five times, 6, 9, 23, 26 and 30 December. In addition to sampling stations B and E, two microzooplankton grazing experiments and five bi-weekly samplings of the seawater intake area were completed this month. Preliminary results of standard primary production estimates showed the beginning of a bloom in late December. With reference to data collected in the past ten years, this bloom occurred unusually late in the field season. We would like to thank the Palmer Lab Staff for their continued assistance in the laboratory and the field. B-028-L/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 Drs. Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin, Principal Investigators, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara Personnel on station: Langdon Quetin, Joshua Sprague Due to the ice conditions in Arthur Harbor we have been able to finish cruise samples from last season and are up to date on data entry. We are culturing phytoplankton in the lab for work on krill grazing later in the season after the annual LTER cruise. The cultures continue to do well though their growth rates appear slow. A new zodiac console was completed to accommodate the BioSonics DTX acoustic system, a replacement system for the system we lost when a leopard seal partially sank our zodiac at the Palmer dock. An updated version (III) of Rubber Duke, our krill sampling zodiac, was completed with the help of many folks on station. One note is that the hydraulic trawl winch needs to be rebuilt. Though it eventually responded to some hard whacks with a hammer, the brake pads likely need replacement. Krill were collected with Rubber Duke III on December 30, 31 and measured for length frequency, weighed and frozen for later analysis. Two modes are apparent in the krill population, one in the low 20 mm range and spawned last summer, and another mode ranging from 35-48 mm. One growth rate experiment was completed. Earlier in the month we surveyed the underside of the pack ice near Palmer station by diving, and did not find krill. Many thanks are due to station personnel for their patience with the impatient scientists during the month. Thank you Shayne Clausson for your continued help in keeping our Macintosh computers compatible with the Palmer LAN. Thank you Jeff Gustafson, Vincent Gordon, Toby Koffman, Dave Ensworth and Daniel Weisblatt for your efforts to successfully rebuild our sampling zodiac. A particular thanks goes to the kitchen staff, Marge Bolton and Mark Lehman, their fine meals during the holiday season. B-032-L/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 Dr. Raymond C. Smith, Principle Investigator, ICESS, University of California at Santa Barbara Personnel on station: Austen Thomas, Katherine Schwager The bio-optical component of the LTER collected data twice from station E and five times from station B during the month of December. Sampling has gone well when ice conditions allowed zodiac operations. Chlorophyll a in the water column suggested a bloom forming late in the month. Katherine Schwager departed from Palmer Station on December 17 on the Laurence M. Gould. We would like to thank the Palmer Lab Staff for their continued assistance in the laboratory and the field. B-045-L/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 Dr. Hugh Ducklow, Principal investigator, School of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary Personnel on station: Michele Cochran and Nicole Middaugh The month of December was disappointing with the unusual amount of sea ice and southwesterly winds that prevented consistent semiweekly sampling at stations B and E. The sea ice appeared to move off shore for good by the last week of the month, or at least beyond the horizon. We have been to station B five times and station E three times this month. Based on the CTD information from B-016, we adjusted our sampling depths of 0, 15, 30, and 50 meters to 0, 15, 30, and 60 meters on December 30. Bacterial activity as observed with uptake of both thymidine and leucine is greatest at the surface and 15 m depths and diminishes by a factor of at least 3 at 60 m. Activity has continued to be slightly greater at Station B compared to E. Surface water temperature measured at approximately 30 cm has increased from -1.3 C at the beginning of December to + 0.4 C at station B on December 30. Large volume filtrations from the pump house for lipid biomarkers have been performed on a weekly basis, without interference from weather or sea ice. Samples obtained on December 31 showed a marked increase in the amount of filtrate in the water column. At the start of the season, the ice prevented us from getting past the mouth of Arthur Harbor and we chose two points to sample from there. On December 06 we obtained samples from two depths at these two sites and we plan to continue this sampling monthly until the end of the summer. These samples will be analyzed the same as those obtained from Stations B and E. Initial blank runs and calibration curves for DOC analyzed on the brand new Shimadzu TOC-V were very good and r2 values of 0.9991 and higher were observed after pre-cleaning the catalyst (washing with 0.01 N HCl solution and rinsing with MilliQ deioinized water). However, after 3 consecutive and successful calibration curves were run the instrument readings became highly variable. Shimadzu technical support was contacted and we are in the process of correcting this problem. Special thanks to Vinny Gordon for hauling boat #44 out of the water almost daily due to the ice in the inlet and fixing the trim tab on the outboard motor. She handles with ease. 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 epoch GPS data files were 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. Data recorded on the PMSA seismic station showing the effect of the magnitude 8.1 earthquake north of Macquarie Island on 23 December and the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in western Indonesia on 26 December were processed and shared with the Palmer community. O-202-P: ANTARCTIC METEOROLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER (AMRC) SATELLITE DATA INGESTOR Charles Stearns, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. The AMRC SDI computer processes satellite telemetry received by the Palmer Station TeraScan system, extracting Automated Weather Station information and low-resolution infrared imagery and sending the results to AMRC headquarters in Madison, WI. 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 The station physician collected air samples semiweekly. The goal of this project is to resolve seasonal and inter-annual 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 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory continued 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. The station physician collected air samples weekly. O-275-O: DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM (RAMP) Colin Sanderson, Principal Investigator, Department of Homeland Security, Environmental Measurements Laboratory 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. The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. 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, with only Bonaparte Point currently operational. AWS data received was also forwarded to UCSB for B-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 Research Associate 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 three out of every 15 minutes each day, and broadband continuous data was recorded for at least six hours per day. Narrowband continuous data was collected for 12 hours each day. Enhanced whistler activity was observed occasionally, though generally infrequently, throughout the month, and extra DVDs were burned with broadband continuous data from these periods. Extra DVDs were burned during scheduled TIPER broadcast periods. At the request of one of the grantees, a data processing script was run, and the resulting extracted data was provided to said grantee. An apparent mismatch between the channel and antenna loop assignments on the VLF narrowband system was discovered, and the grantees were alerted to the problem. Historical information about the antenna loop orientations and system response calibrations and current information about calibration tone strength were researched and provided to the grantees In response to an urgent request from the grantees for data corresponding to an observed outburst of magnetar SGR1806-20 on 27 December, additional broadband data files were burned to DVD and several immediate "quick-look" charts and a subsequent data subset were sent via ftp. T-312-O: TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM Dan Lubin, Principal Investigator, Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Research Associate operates and maintains on-site equipment for the project. Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP, NOAA, and ORBVIEW-2 satellite telemetry, capturing approximately 25-30 passes per day. A weekly 85GHz SSM/I ice concentration image was produced and transferred to UCSB for B-032-P (Smith). Image generation in support of present and future activities aboard the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD continued in high gear this month, with DMSP visible images being provided in support of general operations, execution of research on LMG04-14, and planning of research on LMG05-01 and in two separate areas on LMG05-02. Images were also provided to grantees with B-013-P (Fraser) to assist in understanding giant petrel movements. TeraScan 3.2 Service Release 1 was applied to the TeraScan computer in order to update swcolor routines and fix the problem of absent ocean-color data reported last month. The patch over-wrote the DMSP-ingestor routine rtdin with a less-functional version, so the previous version was restored. TeraVision data shelves and TeraScan "master" files were organized by the removal of duplicate and unused ones and the standardization of names of those remaining. Two "bug reports" on TeraCapCon operation were provided to SeaSpace, Inc. A temporary real-time license allowed for the collection of decrypted SeaWiFS data from 08 _ 23 December. The license was to have extended through cruise LMG05-01 (LTER), but the expiration of a licensing agreement between OrbImage and NASA terminated all temporary research licenses. Email discussions were held with grantees and RPSC personnel regarding the future of SeaWiFS acquisition and licensing at Palmer. More information is needed from OrbImage about its licensing policies before an appropriate decision can be reached. 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 four channels in the UV and one channel in the visible for measuring Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), is located next to the SUV-100. Data from the GUV-511 instrument is made available on a daily basis on the project_s website at http://www.biospherical.com/nsf. Scheduled absolute calibrations were performed on 01, 15 (quarterly triple-lamp calibration) and 31 December. 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. Work continued in the modeling of Palmer_s tide behavior, with the production of a 29-harmonic fit that fairly closely tracks historical patterns. The resulting predictions were used to more closely align the data acquisition program_s display of real versus predicted tides, with a number of time zone, graphing-limit, and array-indexing bugs being fixed along the way. The tide harmonics were also provided to the captain of the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD for his use in a commercial tide prediction and display program. A spreadsheet was constructed to present tide prediction information in a visual fashion in an attempt to replicate the substance of the tide calendars currently being used. Work aimed at determining the "ellipsoidal height" (a.k.a. GPS elevation) of Palmer_s mean sea level was performed. In this process, an apparent bug was discovered in the tide gage acquisition program involving an extraneous application of a factor of one-tenth the international standard of gravitational acceleration (in MKS units), which introduces an error of approximately two percent in recorded tide heights. The tide gage acquisition computer and program were helped through several glitches associated with the replacement of Palmer_s main network file server. METEOROLOGY The Research Associate acts as chief weather observer, and compiles and distributes meteorological data. At the end of the month a summary report is prepared and sent to interested parties. Weather data collected using the automated electronic system is archived locally and forwarded semimonthly to the University of Wisconsin for archiving and further distribution. Synoptic reports are automatically generated every six hours by the Palmer Meteorological Observing System (PalMOS) and emailed to the NOAA for entry into the Global Telecommunications System (GTS). Current weather observations for all Antarctic stations, including Palmer, are available on the web at: http://www.wunderground.com/global/AA.html. A shareware program was located for use in viewing old WKQ files holding yearly weather summaries from some years in the 1970s and the 1980s. It was discovered that many of the data entries are not believable, and inquiries were initiated with other users of weather data regarding their holdings from these earlier days. A synopsis of precipitation recorded in 2004 compared to historical averages was provided to a grantee at the Petermann Island field camp. Late in the month an inquiry was received from British Antarctic Survey personnel regarding some minor problems with synoptic message formatting, and the questions were forwarded to the RPSC Meteorology Coordinator for further attention.