Biology & Medicine

Dr. Polly Penhale Program Manager

B-032-L/P	NSF/OPP Award 02-17282
Station: R/V Laurence M. Gould, Palmer Station
RPSC POC: Rob Edwards/Stephanie Suhr-Sliester
Research Site(s): Palmer Station, R/V Laurence M. Gould
Dates in Antarctica: Late December to early February

Palmer Long Term Ecological Research Project (PLTER): Climate migration, ecological response and teleconnections in an ice-dominated environment.

	Dr. Raymond C. Smith University of California Santa Barbara Institute for Computational Earth System Science(ICESS) ray@icess.ucsb.edu http://pal.lternet.edu

Photo not available.

Deploying Team Members:

Gregory Quetin . Katherine Schwager . Austen Thomas . Lyndon Valicenti

Research Objectives: The overall objectives of PAL-LTER research at Palmer Station are to document and understand the seasonal cycles of primary production, krill recruitment, Adelie penguin breeding and microbial biogeochemical processes in the nearshore regime of the coastal Antarctic ecosystem. This project is the bio-optical component of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, focusing on the processes controlling the space/time variability of phytoplankton biomass and production including atmospheric and oceanographic forcings. They also investigate the linkage between shipboard surface observations and satellite observations relevant to these various processes including sea ice coverage and phytoplankton biomass and production. Project team members will make sea ice observations in accordance with international protocols and measure bio-optical properties using a free-fall profiling system. They use models and selected satellite imagery including sea-ice, sea surface temperature, ocean color (SEAWIFS and/or MODIS), ozone concentration, and cloud cover data.