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Oceans & Climate
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Dr. Bernhard Lettau
Program Manager
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O-275-P/S
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NSF/DOE agreement
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Station:
Palmer Station, South Pole Station
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RPSC POC:
Rob Edwards
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Research Site(s):
Palmer Station, South Pole Station
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Dates in Antarctica:
Instruments operate year-round
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Remote Atmospheric Measurements Program (RAMP) of the University of Miami / U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Measurements Lab
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Remote Atmospheric Measurements Program (RAMP) of the University of Miami / U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Measurements Lab
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Research Objectives:
Radionuclides, some of which occur naturally in the surface air, are atoms emitting radioactive energy. It is these, as well as nuclear fallout and any accidental releases of radioactivity, that the Environmental Measurements Laboratory's (EML's) Remote Atmospheric Measurements Program (RAMP) is designed to detect and monitor. Since 1963, EML, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy, has run the Global Sampling Network to monitor surface air. The RAMP system provides on-site analysis in 13 different locations around the world including Palmer and South Pole stations.
At Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) staff maintain the equipment and collect samples. At Palmer Station, the science technician maintains the equipment, collects samples and sends data to the PI's home institutions. Tasking includes checking the system (high-volume aerosol sampler and a gamma ray spectrometer), initiating gamma ray counts, calibrating sensors, changing filters and data disks, and sending filters and data to the ELM lab in New York City. So far, antarctic monitoring has seen only naturally-occurring radionuclides, Be-7 (an isotope of beryllium) and Pb-210 (an isotope of lead).
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