From: "MARC POMEROY" PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP JUNE 1997 The following science projects were active at Palmer Station during the month: NEWS FROM THE LAB Marc Pomeroy, Winter Assistant Supervisor, Laboratory Operations At Palmer, the current Network Administrator Peter Lund has been working on a problem that a few researchers were encountering when sending e-mail to station. If you ever received a "connection not authorized from this address" message, please try sending a few messages to Peter's attention at lundpe@palmer.usap.nsf.gov. Peter is hopeful the problem is solved, and so are we. Also at Palmer, night watchstanders have all gone to sleep and an autodialer alarm system is now in operation. Sensors have been installed all over the station to constantly monitor what the night watchstanders used to check every two hours. When a sensor reaches its set point, the system automatically calls several different locations until it receives an answer. In the labs, the cold rooms, freezers, chemical storage milvans and seawater pressure are all monitored. The bugs are still being worked out, and our chemical storage vans send out their fair share of false alarms. In Denver, both the SIP review meeting with the NSF and the regional meeting with the researchers are over, and we are settling down to place orders for all grantee-requested supplies, equipment and instruments. The search also continues for an instrument technician. If you know of any interested parties or would like further information, please contact Marian Moyher at moyherma.asa@asa.org. In May, the Palmer Area Users' Committee Meeting was held in Englewood, Colorado. The meeting minutes will be available soon. In May '96, the committee suggested that ASA add a section to the science monthly reports, and this is that section. Over the last year, we've provided you with a mix of news, current events and even weather reports at times! Any comments or suggestions you have about these reports would be appreciated. S-085 GPS CONTINUOUS OPERATION REFERENCE STATION. J. Mullins, U.S. Geological Survey The system has been monitored by the station science technician. For the month of June, GPS data was collected nearly continuously. Daily data was converted to a Rinex format, compressed, and FTPed to Reston, VA. The average daily data transfer to Reston was.2.2 MB. On 05 June, the GPS_Base software was temporarily stopped to allow installation of the Windows NT Service Patch #3. The patch was installed to remedy potential problems with a "data corruption" bug in the original Windows NT software. S-091 GLOBAL SEISMOGRAPH STATION AT PALMER STATION. R. Butler, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) No personnel were on station. The system has been monitored by the station science technician. On two occasions during the month of June, error messages were noted during log flushes to tape. Although it appears that no data was lost while writing to tape, the PI was notified of the situation and the system has been closely monitored for any further problems. S-106 STUDIES OF LIGHTNING-INDUCED ELECTRON PRECIPITATION OF THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University No personnel were on station. The system has been monitored by the station science technician. On 11 June, increased noise was noted on the N/S channels of the VLF antenna. The step function in noise was thought to roughly coincide with work done for the Palmer Station power upgrade. As of this writing, the noise on the N/S channel was still present, but the power upgrade was also still underway, and sections of conduit with exposed high current cabling remained open. Between 11 June and 15 June, synoptic recordings were occasionally interrupted to allow for the playback of previous recordings, in hope of finding a definite correlation between the increased noise and the power upgrade work. No conclusive evidence was found as a certain amount of hum was present on all tapes that were analyzed as far back as 03 May. S-204 MEASUREMENTS OF ATMOSPHERIC O2 IN RELATION TO THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE. Ralph Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography No personnel were on station. 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. S-254 CHLORINE-AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN ANTARCTICA. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science and Technology No personnel were on station. 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. S-257C COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA\CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. James T. Peterson, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration No personnel were on station. 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. S-275 UM/DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM. C. Sanderson, Department of Energy, Environmental Measurements Laboratory No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. Operations continued without interruption throughout the month. T-312 TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. Throughout the month of June, the TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP and NOAA telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 15-17 passes per day. NOAA and DMSP telemetry were archived for S-032 when the LTER grid was clear. AWS transmissions were monitored from Bonaparte Point, Hugo Island, and RACER Rock. Additionally, several high resolution DMSP infrared images of the Weddell Sea were produced and sent to Marine Operations in Denver to support the upcoming Dovetail cruise. T-513 UV MONITORING NETWORK. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data were collected daily and transmitted to BSI, and preliminary irradiances and integrals were produced in support of Science. Scheduled absolute calibration scans were performed on 05 June and 18 June using lamps M-765 and 200W007 respectively. --End of Report--