Palmer LTER core data, including primary and derived measurements from annual cruises as well as other time series (long-term weather, sea level, sea surface temperature, etc.) are available through Datazoo, Palmer LTER's primary data catalog. LTER is an interdisciplinary polar marine research program established in 1990 as part of a national network of long-term ecological research sites created by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF). Being one of three U.S. research stations located in Antarctica, Palmer LTER focuses on the region along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula (WAP).
The project is based year-round at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, New York, lead by principal investigator Dr. Hugh Ducklow. An interdisciplinary group of co-primary scientist investigators, work along with postdocs, graduate students, undergraduate students, station and affiliated personnel from institutions including College of William and Mary / Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Polar Oceans Research group, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Rutgers University, British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Duke University, Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute, INSTARR / University of Colorado Boulder, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI).
We are studying a region that is considered to be globally significant and exhibits the most rapid rate of regional winter warming. Our research examines the oceanic, atmospheric and biogeochemical processes that result from natural disturbances, environmental change and human impacts along the western Antarctic Peninsula. We engage in long term observations and field experiments and modeling across large spatial scales ranging from months to decades to centuries.