[LTER-mcm-pi] Impacts of flight blackout on MCM LTER science

[Michael Gooseff]

Dear Scott, Lisa, Jessie, and Liz,
Thank you for each taking time to talk with me over the past few weeks to discuss the issues related to the flight blackout this coming season.  Since you are still collecting information, I asked the MCM LTER PIs to provide me with details of potential impacts to the season, and possible solutions.  Our renewal proposal will be due in early March.  Hence, deployment schedules of continuing PIs were altered to accommodate for this.  I have collated responses from the LTER science groups below.  The groups who are least impacted include the glacier team (C-504), and the limno team (C-505).  For the others, I have broken out the impacts below.  We appreciate the balance that must be struck to support science across the continent given resources available.  
LTER Overall
Without the flight blackout, we have a plan to have almost consistent PI presence on the ice for the entire season. A short gap currently exists in mid-Dec, which would end with Berry Lyons’ deployment to the ice just before Christmas (~Dec. 20).  However, with the flight blackout, if Berry cannot deploy until early January, we will have a much longer period of no PI from the LTER on the ice.

C-506 Stream Team
The core of the Stream Team (3 members) will deploy in early November, and will not be affected by the flight blackout directly.  However, we had planned that two additional members of our team deploy in late December or early January to perform long-term, annual stream algae monitoring.  The ‘Algal Ops’ team deploys at peak algal abundance in the streambeds, typically early- to mid-January, to conduct surveys, and sample for abundance, of the stream algal mats across the valleys.  This work, which began in 1994, is generally completed in two to three intense weeks of fieldwork in January when streams are flowing.  This activity does not generate vessel cargo, so there is no potential conflict there.  Two main impacts to this group from substantial deployment delays are, 1) potentially frozen stream beds which      would hinder the ability to properly sample the algae and, 2) potential closure of Dry Valleys field camps and the subsequent increased reliance on MCM based helicopter operation which could increase the likelihood of impact 1.

C-507 Soils Team (Wall, Virginia, Barrett, Adams)
Our SIP for C507 has 9 PAX flying to the ice on Dec 31. With the gap we will lose 5 days from the beginning of our season (assuming that we are on the first available flight to the ice (Jan 4)). This delay will impact:

Our long term soil experiments: The soils are at their warmest generally in late Dec – early Jan. For the LTER core experiments for ~ 20 years, field treatments and samples have occurred in mid Dec- to early January to consistently measure changes in animal populations and meet the vessel deadline to ship samples.
This Flight GAP delay has a ripple effect on our data and experiments: on our ability to get the lab set up, to get to the field, to get samples, to process samples (including the critical sequence of temperature step down to induce anhydrobiosis), and meeting the vessel deadline. Once field samples arrive in Crary — if we have 5 people, it takes 6 days to prepare samples for the vessel, this includes: 
3 days processing at the Crary Lab (getting our samples weighed, soil moisture taken, animals extracted, organisms counted, data entered, and organisms preserved) 
3 days to prepare to ship (soil samples stepped down by decreasing temperatures over a 3 day period) to meet the vessel deadline and get our soils safely shipped home. 
This flight blackout delays getting to the ice, also delays training, delays setting up the lab prior to going to the field and adds to reduced field and lab processing time. This narrows the window to assure we get our treatments on, met data collected, soils sampled, plots ready for the winter and for the lab processing.
Vessel: This last year the vessel was early and it did impact the volume of samples which had to fly COMAIR rather than vessel. It was only the good grace of Michael Davis that allowed us to get the majority of the soil samples on the vessel. 
The delay maximizes the ecological issues to do with the timing of sampling and jeopardizes our long term data, analyses and conclusions. For example on the. P3 experiment at Mini Glaciers pond— It has been sampled in early Jan for the past 3-4 years. There is the issue of comparing late / mid / early season data.  There is the issue of sampling the animals too late, so that we are comparing the wrong demographics (for example, later in Jan might result in more juveniles- that we compare to previous years’  late Dec - early Jan demographics).
Further, beyond the direct impacts to our field season:

Weather and helo delays are not being accounted for in this narrowing of the window of the Field Gap to the Vessel
Additional issues are the PIs who have to teach in late Jan, early Feb - Could there be funds available to facilitate course buy-outs for faculty who would have to stay this late? What about students that have their semester starting in Jan and can only miss a certain amount of classes? 
Possible solutions: 
The obvious solution is to try to get to the ice asap after Jan 4 and try / hope to get as much done as possible before the shipping deadline. 
Extra samples will be shipped on COMAIR transport and add pressure on continental logistics in early Feb. 
We shipped about 500 soil samples of 1kg/ sample home last season- 500kg (~2200 lb) soil; additionally we send the preserved samples we have already processed, which is more weight, plus DNA samples.
If the shipping deadline were moved to the end of Jan then this would alleviate a lot of the problems.
Sending a skeleton crew down before the blackout is not feasible given the collective schedules of the team.  Sample collection too long before analysis is not ideal for the soil biology.
Pushing us to Feb, just is not ideal.
 
C-509 Geochemistry Team (Lyons)
Our SIP for C-509 has 3 PAX flying to the ice on 22 Dec, PI Berry Lyons,his new M.S. student Sydney Oland, and an undergrad Elsa Saelens.  Their respective academic schedules preclude them leaving until the end of the semester on 17 Dec.  This delay will impact:
·       Sydney Olund, with Berry Lyons, are planning to sample flowing streams for dissolved and suspended loads.  With typical air support delays in Jan-Feb (both fixed wing and helo), obtaining required training prior to field deployment, they will likely miss the best opportunities for stream sampling.  If there is no change to flight the schedule, we will probably need to find a different research question for Sydney.  

·       Undergrad Elsa Saelens is deploying to assist Kathy Welch with LTER analytical work in Crary.  This delay will impact the LTER’s ability to timely analyze samples and prepare them for further shipment if required. 

A possible mitigating measure is that Elsa could extend her re-deployment to finish the analytical work.  Alternatively, we send a different person earlier in the season to help set up new instrumentation, recently awarded by NSF, and get started on the early season samples.  We don't have anyone identified at this time who could fill in.  The other impact is that we will rely more on COMAIR cargo rather than vessel because of the shift in timing.  


C-511 Lakes Monitoring Team (Doran)
Our SIP for C-511 has 4 PAX  with original deployment dates of 15 Oct 2015 to 21 Dec 2015; due to flight blackout date, our new proposed deployment dates are 11 Oct to 17 Dec 2015.  This delay will impact:

1) mid-term exams at LSU end on 15 Oct. With new deployment dates students will have to miss mid-term exams and make them up later. It's already tough getting incompletes but missing both mid-term and final exam is brutal.
2) Spring semester registration begins on 23 Oct. With an early deployment we will be in the field by then and if internet is not available at the camps, it might jeopardize registration for high demand courses. If deployed as originally proposed, students could register using a reliable internet in MCM.
Overall impact on the team: Our schedule is built around the NSF requirement of PI presences at Lake Bonney Camp and we can't change that at this point. Earlier deployment, means that C-511 will need to reshuffle tasks in the field to accommodate this requirement. Some of the tasks are more suitable during Dec when the weather is better (for example, visiting Mt. Flemming met station). Last season, in early Dec it was approximately -50C wind chill at Mt. Flemming. Servicing high elevation stations any earlier might compromise quality of work and expose team members to higher risk of frost bites. A few days can make a big difference in temperatures. The new schedule forces us to perform Dec oriented tasks earlier in the season.
Please let us know if you need further information.  Thanks.

Best,
Mike


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Michael Gooseff, Associate Professor
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0450

email: michael.gooseff at colorado.edu <mailto:michael.gooseff at colorado.edu>
web: http://goosefflab.weebly.com <http://goosefflab.weebly.com/> 




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