*. II"

NCARCAR Staff NotesNational Center forAtmospheric Research

February 10, 1967 No. 34

The Line Islands Experiment

shifted into high gear this week.Ed Zipser, scientific coordinator

for the experiment, left for Hono-

lulu to join Bill Lanterman, who

is the field program manager. Sev-eral other NCAR people have left

already for Hawaii, and more will

follow in the coming weeks.

Although a small group will re-

main in Honolulu, most of the peo-ple participating in the experimentwill station themselves on Palmyra,

Christmas, and Fanning Islands, in

the Line Islands group south of Ha-

waii. Equipment and some supplies

are being shipped from Hawaii by

barge. People and additional sup-

plies will be ferried out by air,

using a PBY amphibious aircraft at

first, and switching to a cargo

plane such as the C-46 and a light

twin-engine aircraft once the over-

grown airstrips on the islands havebeen cleared.

The Line Islands Experiment is a cooperative undertaking by groups fromuniversities, government agencies, and private organizations. NCAR is thecoordinating agency for the experiment, and is also participating in severalof the scientific projects.

Ground-based observations from the islands will include surface and

boundary-layer observations by the Army, upper-air soundings by the Air Force,radar observations made with a weather radar supplied by Atmospherics, Inc.,and continuous cloud and sky photography by NCAR. An APT ground station forreceiving satellite photographs is being provided by NASA, and a NASA engi-neer will help set this station up. The research vessel Surveyor I, of the

ESSA Coast and Geodetic Survey, will make meteorological and oceanographic ob-servations as it cruises in the Line Islands area, and a C-54 aircraft from

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will gather in-flight data, mostly at low

levels. One of NCAR's Queen Air research aircraft will operate from the Pal-

myra airstrip throughout the experiment.

Scientists participating in the experiment include Colin Ramage and Ronald

Taylor of the University of Hawaii, Verner Suomi and Robert Ragotzkie of the

University of Wisconsin, Clifford Murino of Saint Louis University, AylmerThompson of Texas A & M, Mariano Estoque of the University of Miami, WilliamMarlatt of Colorado State, and Andrew Bunker from Woods Hole.

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S NCAR Staff Notes/No. 34Sheet 2

The goals of the experiment are twofold, First, the scientists hope toobtain badly needed meteorological data from the equatorial trough zone.Second, they hope to correlate intensive ground-based observations with thecontinuous daytime photographic coverage provided by the synchronous ATS-1satellite, and to evaluate the satellite data and develop techniques for re-lating them to surface conditions.

About 37 people will be stationed on Palmyra, 22 on Christmas, and 17on Fanning. Most of them will be on the islands from the middle of Februarythrough the middle of April. If you are beginning to envy these people, andto think of their assignment as a sort of all-expense-paid vacation in a tropi-cal paradise, a brief perusal of the Line Islands Experiment survey trip reportand several related documents should dispel your illusions.

First of all, you should read the note on immunizations. All partici-pants in the experiment must have shots for smallpox, typhoid, paratyphoid,tetanus, diphtheria, polio, typhus, and influenza. And if you haven't hadenough, cholera shots are suggested, although they aren't mandatory like theothers.

However, a few shots may seem a small price to pay for a chance to re-* cline on white beaches beside blue lagoons, swimming, sunbathing, and fishing

as the notion strikes you. These three pastimes are covered rather explic-itly in the survey trip report, which comments cheerfully that "The onlyreal health hazard is coral poisoning; preventive shots should be givenall personnel who are likely to wade in the lagoons... Good protective sunlotion should be taken, as should a supply of salt tablets....personnelshould be cautioned against eating fish caught locally; many are poisonous..."

The islands offer a fascinating assortment of native wildlife, and theexperiment participants will be living in tents, so they should have a contin-uing opportunity to study these creatures at close range. They will soonlearn to know and love such endearing specimens as land crabs, lizards, rats,mice, roaches, and a charming bird known as the booby. When it rains, thebooby's eyesight is affected, and he tends to fly full tilt into buildings,equipment, and anything else that happens to be in his flight path. The re-port also notes that there is no dry season in the Line Islands, and somerain falls almost daily. Thus life must be pretty rugged both for the boobyand for anyone who frequents his vicinity.

The survivors of the Line Islands Experiment should be able to tell ussome rich and salty tales when they return to Boulder, and the experimentwill probably add at least as much to NCAR's in-house folklore as it will toour knowledge of the tropical atmosphere.

* * *

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NCAR Staff Notes/No. 34

Sheet 3

Calendar NotesFebruary 13 thru 20, 1967

MONDAY, February 13

* AMS Meeting, Denver Branch -- Line Islands Experiment, Daniel F. Rex,Director, NCAR Facilities Laboratory.

7:30 pmNCAR Laboratory, Seminar Room

TUESDAY, February 14

Open

WEDNESDAY, February 15

Open

THURSDAY, February 16

S* Department of Astro-Geophysics Seminar -- Channel Flow of Rotating Fluids,

. Dr. George S. Benton, Director, Institutes for Environmental Research,ESSA.

11:00 amHAO-AG Classroom 138

* Experimenters' meeting for Apollo telescope mount -- Gordon Newkirk.14 day meeting schedule.

9:00 am - 5:00 pm Thursday9:00 am - Noon FridayNCAR Laboratory, Seminar Room

* Noon Movie - The Story of Hoover Dam. Dramatic story of how one of theworld's great dams was built, and its impact on the thriving PacificSouthwest. Color. 28 min.

12:20 pmNCAR Laboratory, Seminar Room

FRIDAY, February 17

* Special Seminar -- Cloud Droplet Growth by Stochastic Collection, Dr.Edwin X. Berry, Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, Reno.

3:15 pm Coffee, 3:30 pm TalkNCAR Laboratory, Seminar Room

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'V NCAR Staff Notes/No. 34Sheet 4

MONDAY, February 20

* NCAR Advisory Panel on Scientific Use of Balloons. I day meetingschedule.

9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday9:00 am Noon TuesdayNCAR Laboratory, Boettcher Room

Visitors

Here: Slater, Richard, G. T. Schjeldahl Company, Northfield,Minnesota, February 10.-- W. O. Roberts

Coming: Berry, Dr. Edwin X., Desert Research Institute, Univer-sity of Nevada, Reno, February 15- 20.

-- J. D. Sartor

Davis, Dr. M. H., The RAND Corporation, Santa Monica,California, February 13 - 17.-- J. D. Sartor

Masterson, John, NCAR/NASA, Greenbelt,ruary 16 - 21.-- W W. Kellogg

Maryland, Feb-

KAnnouncements for this listing may be called to Rose Dacey, ext. 103, after-

noons. Wednesday 5:00 pm is the deadline for items to be included in theCalendar for the following week.

SPECCIA.a--- Includes: Entree,Vegetable, Potato., Bread and Butter

AI,dAC.AnWTE IMONDAY, February 13

Soup: Tomato Bouillon with Rice

* Hand Carved: Corned Beef0 Pizza Hamburger Steak*Chicken Brunswick Stew

00

0

Hand Carved: Baked HamBeef Stroganoff with Rice t:Polish Sausage and. HotGermanPotato Salad

PWENESDAY, February 15

Soup: Fresh Vegetable

* Hand Carved: Broiled Flank Steak* Boiled Beef and Cabbage0 Hamburger and Shell-Roni with Tomato

THURSDAY, February 16

Soup: Green Split Pea

* Hand Carved: Roast Round of Beef.0 Ham Steak with Pineapple Ring0 Baked Tuna Fish and Noodles

FRIDAY, February 17

Soup:- Clam Chowder

" Hand Carved: Roast.Breast of Turkey* Baked k Chicken with Spiced Crabapple* Breaded Perch.Filet with Tartar Sauce

,. Creamy Baked Macaroni and Cheese

l5 -

50O,

45o,

45 -

50o,40o,

l5or

5O -5O .40o,

50o

45o,40o,

8Ot7 5

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80(,

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8O -75o,70(,

S3A2.TD)WXIOCM 5c5to 50*

S.AL-.&A.DS 915c 25*

TncX-:)3EC On3MMUMM

Vegetable or Potato t5*Bread and Butter 10*

S156 to a5*Cake Pie Ice CreamPuddings a Cobblers

SE"VEMAGS IQ*

,Coffee, Te, MilkHot ChocolateRefill Coffee No Charge

1 7:00 &34

Donut 10e Danish Rtoll15*Orange* Juice150

Toast & Butter 10e

1/2 Orapefruit 300.Preserved Fruit 15*Stewed Fruit- 150

Cereal 300136gg 20*23 Bgg s 3*

Bacon Saumage as*Ham 454

I ,,Alir ,,I -I-

ON

TUESDAY, February 14

Soup: French Onion

NCARS C.A.ET rj :RoI AsaMENtY

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