PALMER STATION SCIENCE MONTHLY REPORT January 2005 NEWS FROM THE LAB Langdon Quetin, Station Science Leader This month is one of the busiest of the year at Palmer Station. A full science compliment resided at the station, the ARSV Laurence M. Gould operated in the area throughout the month, and numerous cruise ships and yachts visited the station. The Laurence M. Gould docked at the station late on January 2 due to high winds that prevented docking earlier in the day. Dr. Marie Bundy, Assistant Program Director for Antarctic Biology and Medicine, arrived to serve as the National Science Foundation Representative for the month. Also welcomed to the station were many returning science members and 5 members of a new project, B-256-P, to investigate the physiological and molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance in a polar insect. Both Principal Investigators, Drs. Richard E. Lee, Jr. and David L. Denlinger, were in residence with the research team. Bob Farrell, Area Director, replaced Joe Pettit, Station Operations Manager, to manage the station for the summer. Forty-four personnel were in residence for the month: one NSF representative, 18 scientists from 5 projects and 25 RPSC personnel. In addition, data continues to be gathered for 11 other projects by Johan Booth, the Palmer Station Research Associate, with some assistance by the station physician Will Silva. The Palmer LTER finished final loading and preparations aboard the Laurence M. Gould for its annual cruise January 2-4, and sailed mid afternoon January 4. Over the next week the cruise operated relatively close to Palmer Station and several activities were coordinated with station zodiacs to both increase the efficiency of the cruise sampling and to enable Dr. Bundy to observe the cruise operation. Thank you to all the Palmer Station personnel for their direct and indirect assistance in making these operations possible. Ice and weather were a minor hindrance to scientific activities for the month. Precipitation for the month was 46.7 mm melted and 10 cm snowfall. Air temperature averaged 1.6¡C and ranged from a maximum of 8.2¡C to -2.1¡C. Wind averaged 6 kts predominantly from the northeast to northwest with a miximum gust of 42 kts. Additional weather details can be found in the Meteorology section below. One important note: Of the three Automated Weather (AWS) Systems monitored using the TeraScan (Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and Racer Rock). Only Bonaparte Point is transmitting. This is my last SitRep before turning over the Station Science Leader duties to Robin Ross. Before departing, I would like to thank everyone at the station for excellent support of the science effort this season. Thank you. 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 Measurements in our climate manipulation treatments in plots behind Palmer Station were in full swing this month. 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. Our objective is to determine how these changes affect tundra 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. Every 10-14 days we conduct censuses to monitor the vegetative growth (e.g. leaf elongation, leaf and branch production) and reproductive development of the two flowering plant species in our microcosms, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. On January 15 we visited Biscoe Point, where we took photographs of small plots we are monitoring for trends in plant cover. We also visited several recently deglaciated areas along the shoreline of Anvers Island, where we are monitoring the establishment of flowering plants along with changes in soil development as plants colonize these areas. We continue answering questions about Antarctic and science on a daily basis from science classes we are interacting with at St. Clair Middle School, St. Clair, MN. We thank personnel at Palmer Station for their continued support during the month. Special thanks to Jeff Gustafson for fabrication assistance; Steve Barten, Rebecca Shoop and Ken Navarro for logistical support; Vinny Gordon for boating 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: Cindy Anderson, Dan Evans, Heidi Geisz, Geoff Gilbert, Peter Horne, and Brett Pickering. The arrival of the Laurence M. Gould on January 2nd increased our personnel by three people, Cindy Anderson, Heidi Geisz and Geoff Gilbert. Two of our field team members, Peter Horne and Brett Pickering, however, departed January 4th on the annual LTER cruise. This left four personnel on station to continue the Palmer-based component of our LTER and tourist impact studies. Weather conditions during January were generally favorable for our field team; wind and rain only prevented us from working in the field two days this month. There was also still a large amount of sea ice and brash ice in the study area, which completely blocked access to our study islands on two additional days, and was often a concern for safe boating. Nonetheless, we experienced no delays in the start of several time-sensitive studies, including AdŽlie penguin diet sampling, the application of presence/absence and satellite-linked transmitters and dive-depth recorders. Together these data serve as indices of krill availability in the marine foraging environment of AdŽlie penguins, and as proxies for looking at changes in krill demography that may be important to understanding other aspects of the ecology of these penguins. By mid-month we also completed several censuses used to assess inter-annual variability in breeding chronology and chick survival, and also concluded our studies on Adelie Penguin breeding biology initiated in early October. We were also able to reach remote study sites on Dream Island and Biscoe Point, where a significant time series on Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins is being developed that includes data on population trends, breeding success and foraging ecology. As in past seasons, we have continued the acquisition of basic data on the demography, breeding biology and foraging ecology of Giant Petrels, Kelp Gulls, Blue-eyed Shags and Brown and South Polar Skuas. These data add to several species-specific time series that began in the mid- 1970s. One or more large tour ships and smaller sailboats visited Palmer each week during January. Coincident with these visits, we monitored Torgersen Island to obtain data on tourist flow, and to compare aspects of AdŽlie penguin reproductive biology and ecology with control sites not visited by tourists. This effort repeats work done in past seasons as part of a long-term monitoring study to look at human impacts. Our work this month benefited greatly from the able help given us by many Raytheon employees, but especially Bill Hance, Barb Watson and Bob Farrell. 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 This month we participated in the annual Palmer LTER cruise. January 2-5 were spent moving out of our lab at Palmer and moving onto the Laurence M. Gould prior to sailing the afternoon of January 5. On January 13 we returned to Palmer Station and used our Palmer zodiac to do CTD stations on the near-shore 10 by 20 km grid sampled during the annual LTER cruise. Sampling the grid is a day-long effort to sample continuously along a grid track for chlorophyll a (fluorometric observations), krill (acoustic observations) and Adelie penguins (visual observations) stopping at only a few stations for a CTD cast. The Palmer zodiac coordinated with the Laurence M. Gould and did CTD casts at stations the ship did not have time to cover and provided a much better assessment of the hydrography of the area. We finished sampling and were back at Palmer Station by late afternoon. We boarded the Laurence M. Gould around midnight and continued on the LTER cruise. We will move back to Palmer Station when the Laurence M. Gould returns to the station February 1. 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, Stephen Holloway Early in the month we coordinated personnel movements between the annual Palmer LTER cruise and Palmer Station. We assisted with cruise preparations January 2-5. L. Quetin and J. Sprague coordinated with B-016 and 032 and the Laurence M. Gould to augment sampling the near-shore grid of stations on January 13. We used a zodiac set up for trawling and successfully collected krill for length-frequency measurements to help interpret the acoustic data being collected simultaneously aboard the Laurence M. Gould. This saved ship time since krill did not have to be collected by the Laurence M. Gould after the grid track was completed. L. Quetin and J. Sprague joined the cruise for January 14, 15 to participate in sampling at a pack ice dominated station on January 14. We did one dive, but ice conditions and scheduling prevented additional dives. No Euphausia superba were observed under the ice, but Euphausia crystallorophias were observed feeding in the water column directly below the ice and collected. Visibility during the dive was limited to approximately 5 m by phytoplankton in the water column and lack of light due to snow and ground-up ice filling the area between floes. The dive was terminated when surface conditions changed and the ice began to compact. January 16 at 0200 J. Sprague and S. Holloway were dropped off at Palmer Station by zodiac to continue sampling from the vicinity of Palmer Station during the LTER cruise period. We had twenty-three successful tows in the vicinity of Palmer Station over 16 days for the month. Krill were analyzed for length frequency, length-weight relationships and for several indexes of feeding activity. Based on the length-frequency analysis, recruitment into the krill population last season appears low, and larger (older) individuals dominate the population. This pattern appears consistent with the krill population cycle described by the more extensive LTER grid. Feeding activity by krill was either low with little variability or higher and much more variable. We would like to thank everyone at Palmer Station for direct and indirect assistance during the very successful month of sampling. 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 The bio-optical component of the Palmer LTER was off station and participated in the January cruise. January 2-5 were spent moving from the lab to the ship prior to sailing the afternoon of January 5. On January 13 minimal winds and glassy oceanic conditions enabled us to work with B-016 to augment sampling on the near-shore 10 by 20 km grid, using our zodiac from Palmer do CTD casts at stations not sampled by the Laurence M. Gould. Afterward we rejoined the LTER cruise. For details see B-016 above. We will move back to Palmer Station when the Laurence M. Gould returns to the station February 1. 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 Taylor Heyl During the month of January, we continued our regular sampling at stations E and B in the Palmer Station vicinity. 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 at station B from 0.0 C at the beginning of January to 1.6 C on January 17th. Surface temperatures at station E remain highly variable. Large volume filtrations from the pump house for lipid biomarkers continue to be performed on a weekly basis, without interference from weather or sea ice. Samples show that there was an increase in the amount of filtrate in the water column during the month of January. To date, two engineers and two technical support staff at Shimadzu have been contacted and no explanation can be given regarding the high variability in the Areas of the peaks for a given run. Shimadzu personnel do not believe that this is due to the pure water trap malfunction. The instrument was completely disassembled and reassembled, checking all fittings and connections and no gross leak could be found. A flow meter is needed to check for minor leaks but is not available on station, but the symptoms do not indicate that a leak is the causative factor. The instrument will occasionally record a positive Area reading when the graphics show a negative peak and a reading of 0.000 mV when there is a positive peak. Therefore, it would appear to be a coprocessor, detector or other firmware/software problem. The plan is to ship this unit back to Shimadzu while it is still under warranty and obtain a full replacement. Thank you to Cara Ferrier and Daniel Weisblatt for assistance in the field this month. B-256-P: PALMER, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF STRESS TOLERANCE IN A POLAR INSECT Drs. Richard E. Lee, Jr. and David L. Denlinger, Principle Investigators, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Personnel on station: Richard E. Lee, Jr., David L. Denlinger, Joseph Rinehart, Scott Hayward and Luke Sandro Due to the efficiency of the research support system at Palmer Station we were able to begin field collection and laboratory studies almost immediately upon arrival. During our first boating trip, we found both adults and larvae of the wingless fly (Belgica antarctica), whose exceptional tolerance to a variety of environmental stresses comprises the focus of our research. Our field studies focused on establishing long-term monitoring of microclimate conditions experienced by B. antarctica in several diverse habitats in which it is found. We deployed loggers to record annual temperature conditions at sites on Norsel Point, Torgersen Island, Stepping Stones Island and Bonaparte Point. We used digital thermometers to measure larval microhabitats and found values greater than 20¡C, confirming that larvae may experience high temperatures. For this season, our laboratory studies focused on physiological mechanisms associated with tolerance of desiccation and thermal extremes in larval and adult flies. Larvae are highly tolerant of desiccation with most surviving the loss of 60% of their body water. We have been able to study the stress-induced expression of heat shock proteins this season because Denlinger and Rinehart were able to extract and clone the gene from alcohol preserved specimens collected 25 years ago by Lee. We have also measured changes in the blood osmotic pressure of larvae exposed to various stresses. As predicted we found evidence of cross-tolerance between increased larval resistance to desiccation and temperature. With extensive support from Juanita Constible at Miami University, Sandro has written a detailed daily log and specific exercises directly related to our research and other Antarctic science projects; more than 200 educators and their students receive the log which is also posted on our website (http://www.units.muohio.edu/cryolab/education/antarctic.htm). We are grateful to the station personnel for their support and helpfulness during our first field season. Cara Sucher, Cara Ferrier and Barb Watson provided efficient and prompt assistance as we set up our laboratory. We thank Jeff Gustafson and Dan Weisblatt for constructing our insect extraction system and Chris Vitry and Shayne Clausson for solving various computer and networking problems, especially related to our Macintosh computers. Vincent Gordon did an excellent job as Boating Coordinator. 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. A mild virus and spyware outbreak occurred on the data-acquisition computer, which may or may not have caused an unexplained glitch in which the acquisition program reopened its data files in midday on 04 January, causing a loss of data collected during the first seven hours of the day. Viruses and spyware were removed, and operation returned to almost normal; the one remaining issue involves the inability of the computer to perform its scheduled end-of-day routines automatically. Those are now being invoked manually, and, when time allows, a new computer will be configured with the data-acquisition software and put into service in place of the current one. 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-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 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 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. Air samples are collected on a weekly basis by the station physician. 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). Near the end of the month, broadcasts from "Racer Rock" began to show up in the TeraScan telemetry stream, but examination of the values showed both temperatures and pressures that were far too low. Subsequent inquiry with the grantees confirmed that RacerÕs former ARGOS ID is now being used elsewhere on the continent. RacerÕs information was commented out of the appropriate TeraScan configuration file to stop the spurious reporting. 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 the grantees and in coordination with the MINIS balloon campaign conducted from Sanae station, starting on 10 January all collected broadband continuous data files were burned to DVD. In response to a follow-up request from the grantees for additional data in the aftermath of an observed outburst of magnetar SGR1806-20, the hour following the event was broken down into manageable three-minute pieces and transferred via ftp. The previously reported mismatch between the channel and antenna loop assignments on the narrowband system was corrected. On 14 January, the posts supporting the VLF cable run on the glacier were replanted and the E/W loop shape and orientation were adjusted. On 30 January, the antenna tower guy posts were replanted, the tower base was shimmed, and guy-rope tensions were adjusted to bring the tower to a more vertical position, correcting the roughly four degree lean with which the tower has been saddled since freezing in last March/April. Melting of the glacier in the summer months necessitates periodic replanting of support posts. 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 was particularly high this month, with DMSP and NOAA visible images and DMSP microwave ice concentration images provided in support of general operations, execution of research on LMG05-01, and planning in two separate areas for LMG05-02. During the month, 36 separate images were produced and provided. Additionally, true-color visible images posted on the NASA/MODIS web site were examined daily, and appropriate cropped sections of those images were also provided to the vessel. Finally, automatically generated MODIS chlor_a images provided by NASA/Ocean Colors cruise support were received, annotated, and forwarded to the ship on a daily basis throughout the month. Several cropped true-color MODIS images were also provided to a grantee with B-086-E (Naveen) to show the extent of ice in the Petermann Island region. The signal acquisition and loss patterns of the TeraScan were analyzed to map out the impact of obstructions on the horizon; this information is useful in determining how much of a particular pass can be trimmed off when two passes overlap briefly in time. 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 projectÕs website at http://www.biospherical.com/nsf. In a repeat of an occurrence seen in mid-October, a corrupted serial data transfer from the systemÕs auxiliary-sensor digitizer on 15 January caused the UV Monitor to believe that it was overheating, which in turn caused it to abort data acquisition. The alarm condition was manually cleared to restart data collection after about nine hours of idleness. Scheduled absolute calibrations were performed on 16 and 31 January. TIDE GAUGE 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 gauge mounted at the Palmer Station pier. The tide modeling analysis program was modified to include variable equilibrium arguments and interpolation of yearly node factors. A program was written to convert files of raw tide gauge data into files with higher-level "engineering units". This translation is currently done by the acquisition program, but this stand- alone utility will allow for user configurable error checking and the correction or removal of obviously corrupted data. The tide gauge acquisition program was edited to deal more gracefully with the beginning of a new year. 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.