PALMER STATION SCIENCE MONTHLY REPORT June 2005 NEWS FROM THE LAB Janice O'Reilly, Winter Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations The summer science season came to a close early June as members of B-036-P (Sidell) completed the last of their ice fish research and departed Palmer Station on June 5. The R/V LAURENCE M GOULD returned on June 18 bringing three Hazardous Waste Specialists and a winterover Power Plant Mechanic. The Hazardous Waste Team transferred hazardous materials to shipping containers and prepared paperwork for the "HAZ Run." Oceanographer, Chuck Stump, from the University of Washington was onboard the research vessel analyzing seawater gas ratios. On June 21 the Palmer staff, ship crew and visitors celebrated the Winter Solstice holiday with a formal dinner. The R/V LAURENCE M GOULD departed Palmer Station for the last time this season on June 24. Some of the wildlife still present in the area included snowy sheathbills, kelp gulls, blue-eyed shags, giant petrels, snow petrels, elephant seals and leopard seals. Early in the month sightings of a few fur seals napping on nearby islands and penguins darting over the surface of the water were reported from boaters. A series of storm fronts, more seasonally typical, slammed into the Peninsula at the beginning of June. The peak wind gust for the month, 47 knots, was set at this time, as well as the monthly high temperature of +2.6C. The commotion did not last long, however, and soon a dominant high pressure system reestablished itself to the west of Anvers Island. For the remainder of the month only a few storm fronts passed through, with little or no oomph behind them. The average wind speed was 8 knots, and would be less if not for the windy first week. With the benign high pressure system camping out again nearby, temperatures dropped and precipitation nearly disappeared. The average temperature for the month was -5.7C, 1.7 degrees colder than the cumulative 15-year average and 2.9 degrees colder than June of 2004. The average daily minimum temperature was -7.5C, and the absolute minimum temperature was a snow-squeaking -14.0C. An all-time low was set for melted precipitation, 14.0mm, less than a third of the normal June average of 50.5mm. The precipitation that did fall came down as snow, 46cm of it, which is about average for June, as was the maximum snowstake depth of 64cm. Direct sunlight was last seen on June 2nd, and although it rises every day of the year, the sun is now so low in the sky that it has remained hidden behind by the Marr Ice Piedmont to the north of Palmer Station. Calm winds and cold temperatures contributed to ocean temperatures averaging -1.5C by the end of the month. Grease ice and pancake ice were prevalent, and Hero Inlet froze from the glacier to the trolley line. From mid-month onward the surrounding islands collected quite a menagerie of grounded icebergs, some with spectacular arches and spires, amid broad swaths of pancake and brash ice. The bulk of the pack ice, however, still lurks to the south and west approximately 70km distant. Changing weather conditions didn't delay construction of the IMS building. Despite darkness and ice, FEMC was able to complete the standing seam metal roof and begin installing the vapor barrier and exterior siding. The addition of windows made it possible to lay the plywood sub floor and begin interior framing. To date the interior walls are built, door jambs installed and drywall is being hung. With a full crew for most of the month significant progress was made. Station science support staff continued monitoring science projects, preparing labs and equipment for next season, and assisting with IMS transition plans. Research Associate, Glenn Grant, continues to oversee data collection for 10 research projects, plus the station's meteorological systems. The following is a special summary from visiting scientist, Charles L. Stump, describing his recent research on the R/V LAURENCE M GOULD. Also included in this report are descriptions of projects currently being conducted at Palmer Station. 0-271-L TRACERS OF BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTIVITY AND GAS EXCHANGE Steven Emerson, Principal Investigator, University of Washington Charles L. Stump conducted research onboard the R/V LAURENCE M GOULD. Steven Emerson (project P.I.) and I have come to Antarctica and the Drake Passage as a part on our ongoing research looking at gases in the surface ocean to determine new production. This is the amount of carbon formed by plants in the surface ocean that leaves the surface and becomes the basis of the food chain for the rest of the ocean. While biologists look at the plants and animals and measure chlorophyll, nitrogen, reproductive rates, scavenging rates, etc, we ignore the plants and animals and only look at the chemistry of the water. We are using excess oxygen in the surface ocean as a proxy for carbon. Oxygen enters the surface ocean through photosynthesis, equilibration with the atmosphere and bubble injection and is lost to the surface ocean through respiration. Bubble injection is the entrainment of bubbles of atmosphere that are forced by breaking waves below the water's surface, where pressure causes the bubbles to collapse, injecting the gas from the atmosphere into the water. We are able to use temperature, salinity and the ratios of O2, Ar, N2 and Ne and the isotopes of O2 to calculate photosynthesis, equilibration and respiration. Bubble injection is more problematic and is currently estimated using wind speed. Since our overall excess O2 signal is on the order of 0.5 - 1.0 %, we are greatly compromised by the injection term that may be this large or larger. We have developed a method of using the ratios of isotopes of argon in the seawater. Ar is a fair substitute for O2 since they have similar masses and solubilities and Ar is not used biologically. The two major isotopes (36Ar and 40Ar) have very different ratios in the atmosphere and in seawater. 36Ar goes into solution at a faster rate than 40Ar. We know the atmospheric ratio of 36Ar/40AR and can determine the expected ratio in seawater based on the temperature and salinity and solubilities we have determined. Since bubble injection forces atmospheric Ar (as well as O2, N2, CO2, etc) into the water, any difference in the ratio of 36Ar/40AR in the water that drives it toward the atmospheric ratio must be due to bubble injection. These cruises will sample the various concentrations of O2, Ar, N2 and Ne dissolved in surface seawater to determine bubble injection rates as a function of wind conditions and sea state. Surface seawater samples are taken using a CTD every half degree from 56o S to 64o S. Oxygen titrations and salinities are analyzed during the cruise. Gas ratio analysis is done at the University of Washington using a mass spectrometer. One deep cast (~4000 m) will be taken to calculate respiration and determine the deep water characteristics of the gases. In addition to the CTD casts we will run simultaneous gas and O2 samples using the underway seawater sampling system to see if this is a viable method of obtaining reliable samples. If this proves useful, we can then pursue other ships of opportunity with this system to take samples for us, greatly increasing our data coverage. Currently the method described has only been tested in Hawaii, Bermuda and Japan and this is the first test of the Ar isotope method. PALMER STATION RESEARCH ASSOCIATE MONTHLY REPORT June 2005 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 interval GPS data files were collected continually at station PALM, compressed, and transmitted to the NASA/CDDIS in Greenbelt, MD. 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. Decreasing temperatures and a slight loss of vacuum caused the seismometer masses to drift out of calibration during June. The bell jars containing the seismometers were evacuated, and the masses re-centered electronically. 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-P 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-P 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-P DHS-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 nine hours per day. Narrowband continuous data was collected for 12 hours each day. Multiple sets of VLF data recordings were made in support of the DEMETER (Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions) experiment. Additionally, interesting natural data events were recorded during June. A-357-P EXTENDING THE SOUTH AMERICAN MERIDIONAL B-FIELD ARRAY (SAMBA) TO AURORAL LATITUDES IN ANTARCTICA Eftyhia Zesta, Principal Investigator, University of California Los Angeles The station Research Associate maintains the on-site system. The three-axis fluxgate magnetometer is one in a chain of longitudinal, ground-based magnetometers extending down though South America and into Antarctica. The primary scientific goals are the study of ULF (Ultra Low Frequency) waves and the remote sensing of mass density in the inner magnetosphere during geomagnetically active periods. Palmer's magnetometer is also a conjugate to the Canadian Poste de la Baleine station, allowing the study of conjugate differences in geomagnetic substorms and general auroral activity. T-312-P 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). Ice concentration images were provided in support of station and ship operations. At the end of the month, the pack ice on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula had approached as close as 70 kilometers south of Anvers Island and Palmer Station. T-513-P 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. 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 is prepared and sent to interested parties. Weather data collected using the automated electronic system is archived locally and forwarded twice each month 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. Yearly weather statistics were updated to compare 2005 YTD weather versus previous years. So far this winter is averaging colder than previous Palmer winters.