Return-Path: baltzro@palmer.usap.nsf.gov Return-Path: Received: from skua.asa.org by icess.ucsb.edu (8.8.4/SMI-8.7-Icess) id PAA25172; Thu, 10 Sep 1998 15:47:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: from cool.palmer.usap.nsf.gov (root@cool.palmer.usap.nsf.gov [204.145.215.2]) by skua.asa.org (8.6.12/8.6.11) with ESMTP id QAA00392 for ; Thu, 10 Sep 1998 16:50:34 -0600 Received: from palmer.usap.nsf.gov (palmer.palmer.usap.nsf.gov [204.145.215.3]) by cool.palmer.usap.nsf.gov (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id UAA04190 for ; Thu, 10 Sep 1998 20:11:02 GMT Message-Id: <199809102011.UAA04190@cool.palmer.usap.nsf.gov> Received: from PALMER/SpoolDir by palmer.usap.nsf.gov (Mercury 1.31); 10 Sep 98 20:11:52 -0400 Received: from SpoolDir by PALMER (Mercury 1.31); 10 Sep 98 20:08:57 -0400 From: "RONNIE BALTZ" Organization: Palmer Station, Antarctica To: PALMER_SCIENCE@SKUA.ASA.ORG Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 20:08:47 -0300 Subject: Palmer Station Science Sitrep - August 1998 Priority: normal X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v2.54) PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP AUGUST 1998 NEWS FROM THE LAB. Diane Wetterlin, Winter Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations The winter season is quickly coming to a close, along with a lot of the winter projects. No sooner had FMC finished the Lab Managers office than I was moving in. Monika is now finishing carpeting the new Library and will be done late this morning; furniture should be able to be moved in there anytime after tomorrow. The installation of the outside door at the end of the hall should take place in the next few days, weather permitting of course. The deck between the masticator and Lab 1 has been widened but the stairs will have to wait until more material arrives on the ship to be completed. Everyone here thinks all the summer folks will really be impressed with how the offices turned out. The trades people and I are anxious to hear your reactions but not anxious enough to stay until you get here. It is a big change but I believe that once people get use to the new layout it will be more convenient and efficient for everyone. The carpenters have been quite busy down in the labs too. In order to get everything organized and up out of the way I had a few more shelving units assembled in Lab 5 and 8. We tried to keep them as high as possible and adjustable so they can easily be moved or taken down if we find they are in the way. The Inventory saga goes on but it has been coming along nicely. Labs 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Hoist Room, and Volatile chemical storage have all been completed this month. Mapcon is 50% updated on Flammables/Corrosive chemical storage. Then it is a quick double check, should take about 2 or 3 hours, then on to the only major stockroom left to complete, the Dive Locker. That leaves me less than a week to do some odd projects and one last quick pick-up and dusting in the labs. This month there has been quite a few windy days in which the Snow and Giant Petrels seem to thoroughly enjoy. It seems the minute the wind is over 30 knots (18 days with wind peak greater than 29 knots) they are out playing. We had a young elephant seal camp out by the pumphouse for a few days; amusing thing is we could smell it (and recognized it), especially up by the Carp Shop, long before anyone spotted the seal. The seals in Christy Cove seem to have left us for a while; no one has seen them for a few weeks. Still see a few Cormorants everyday but not many more than 5 or 6 of them a day, or it could be the same one 5 different times. I hear the Terns when I am out shoveling at dawn or dusk but have not been able to see them. Our Sheathbill is still around. He shows up everyday at 11:30 to keep us company during lunch. A group of approximently 16 penguins were spotted a couple of times this month. One group was seen lking on the pack ice to Torgersen Island from the southwest and the another group was camped just off the tip of Boneparte Point. Don't know if it was the same group wondering around or two different groups. Kind of a slow month for critter news. The average temperature took a big jump from last month's -7.8 C to -4.9C, and the total snow was down to 34 cm. Other than that, the statistics look pretty close to the same as July's. In my mind, I remember August as shoveling a lot of heavy wet drifted snow in mittens but no coat and in July my eyes watering for the first few breaths I took outside because my nose couldn't warm up the air. In the morning on August 15th, there were Nacreous clouds just above the horizon over the glacier in the backyard. They were visible for about 45 minutes before lower clouds obscured our view. BO-085-O GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION. J. Mullins, U.S. Geological Survey The station science technician has monitored the system. During the month GPS data was collected continuously, converted daily to a RINEX format, compressed, and transmitted to the US Geological Survey in Reston, VA. GO-091-O GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION. R. Butler, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) The station science technician has operated the system. Global seismic events were recorded throughout the month. All operations during the month were normal. AO-106-O STUDIES OF LIGHTNING-INDUCED ELECTRON PRECIPITATION OF THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University The station science technician has monitored the system. The Stanford receiver records very low frequency (VLF) radio waves for studying ionospheric and magnetospheric natural phenomena. The system is operating normally. OO-204-O MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC O2 IN RELATION TO THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE. Ralph Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Air samples are collected on a semi-weekly basis by the station physician. The samples are return shipped to Scripps for analysis of O2 and CO2 content. The goal of the program is to resolve seasonal and interannual variations in atmospheric O2 (detected through changes in O2/N2 ratio) which can aid in the determination of rates of marine biological productivity and ocean mixing and aid in the separation of the global sink for anthropogenic CO2 into terrestrial and oceanic components. The program involves air sampling at a network of sites in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Palmer Station is especially well situated to resolve signals due to carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean. OO-254-O CHLORINE-AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN ANTARCTICA. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science and Technology Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The samples are returned to the Institute for analysis of a number of trace components, especially chlorine- and bromine-containing gases. These elements 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. James T. Peterson, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory team continue long-term measurements of trace atmospheric constituents that influence climate. The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA laboratory for analysis of trace constituents, including carbon dioxide. These measurements are part of NOAA's effort to determine and assess the long-term buildup of global pollutants in the atmosphere. These data will be used to determine how the rate of change of these parameters affects climate, particularly by including them in climate model studies. OO-275-O UM/DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM. C. Sanderson, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory The station science technician has operated the system. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. 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. OO-283-P ANTARCTIC AUTOMATED WEATHER STATIONS. Charles Stearns, University of Wisconsin Automated Weather Station (AWS) transmissions were monitored from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and RACER Rock using the TeraScan system. TO-513-O UV MONITORING NETWORK. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. The station science technician has operated the system. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data scans were collected daily and transmitted to BSI, and preliminary irradiances and spectral integrals were produced in support of science. Scheduled absolute calibration scans were performed and the system is operating normally. TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institutionof Oceanography The station science technician has operated the system. Throughout the month, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP and NOAA satellite pass telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 17-19 passes per day. NOAA and DMSP telemetry was archived for BP-032-O when the LTER grid was clear. As if the end of the month, an upgrade to the system hardware and software was in progress.