August 12, final agreement reached between NOAA and Chief Iuli Togi for use of 26.70 acres of land. A 20 year lease agreement was signed.

The first major project was road construction. The original access was by an improved trail built by the U.S. Marine Corps in 1941. In September the road east of the trail was established by the American Samoa-Public Works Department with the actual single lane road construction completed by a private company. The road base is 4 inches of compacted coral with an asphalt surface.

In December the observatory construction contract was awarded with the Government of American Samoa acting as the contracting agent.

A new remote EKTO sampling building, was erected adjacent to the ridge sampling tower. Two buildings were removed to erect the new building, the original OGC building and a SEAREX building. The new EKTO building was 16’ x 20’ with a separate room for the gas chromatograph.

The Photovoltaic system officially went on line 15 February, 1984.

The second renegotiations began for the lease. Renegotiations occur every 5 years as required by the signed agreement. The lease was resigned with the assistance of High Chief Salanoa and with GMCC’s Jim Watkins present. Jim Watkins helped establish the initial lease agreement.

Reorganization of Observatory. Roof resurfaced with epoxy paint. UPS system added to the instruments in the main building. Shingles stained and water catchments drained and cleaned.

On 31 March an electrical fire destroyed the NOAA Chief’s housing unit #T-6. The vacant NOAA house #T-7 was cleaned for occupation. Significant improvements were made to both houses. In March the badly rusting Datsun pickup was replaced with a new Toyota four wheel drive truck.

In February of 1986 a grounding problem was solved by rewiring the EKTO building. Additional outlets and breakers were installed as well as an hardwired UPS. The motor/pump grounds were isolated and a grounding rod established. In August a heavy copper cable was laid to connect the EKTO and Observatory grounding rods, reducing the signal noise between the two buildings.

In April, a lightening strike interrupted observations followed by island utility blackouts in May and June. The lightening strike occurred on 22 April. A bolt struck a tree 10m from the Observatory and the ground charge entered the nearby buried cable effecting both the Main building and the EKTO building on the ridge. The station personnel in the building during the strike were unhurt. After the downpour eased the station personnel inspected the damage. A 6” deep groove was found where the lightening entered the ground. Damaged equipment included all CAMS boards, the photovoltaic controller, the Dasibi ozone monitor and communications board, the standby generator control relay, and the telephones.

From May through June the island power utility lost 70% of it’s generating capacity forcing the island to scheduled rotating blackouts. Schools and businesses were closed. The television and radio stations were shut down for over a month. The observatory continued with fairly normal operations until 16 June when the radiator ruptured and a head cracked on the standby generator. The replacement parts were still available on island and the generator was running three days later. By July the power utility was fully functioning.

At the end of the year a new Ford van was purchased.

One of the station vehicles was involved in an accident later in the year, flipping off the road. No injuries to personnel were reported, but the vehicle was beyond repair. A 1986 Dodge pickup was purchased as a replacement and arrived at the end of November.

The effects of Mt. Pinatubo were observed as stratospheric haze on July 16. Hurricane Val hit Tutuila Island from December 7 – 10th. The hurricane’s eye passed over the southern end of the island with winds as high as 116mph recorded at the observatory. The most significant damage was to the CO2 sampling mast at the point. The mast was severed by the winds 2.5 m above ground surface. Other damage included the door and roof of the storage building, the thermometer shelters, windows in the main building, the tipping-bucket rain gauge and the shelter that contained the high-volume sampler operated by EML. Later problems detected included leaks in the EKTO building and generator problems linked to the radiator and water in the fuel system.

Installation of a NWS tower near the EKTO building was completed in September. It was noted that the location is not good for wind speed and direction under certain conditions.

The photovoltaic system batteries continue to decline. A charge equalization procedure was attempted to fully and equally charge the batteries. It improved the condition of most batteries. A breakdown of the backup generator occurred during the end of the year and a complete overhaul was completed.

A new Iuli Matai was chosen for Tula village, Iuli Tela Vanini., and the rent payments were made directly from the station chief.

Hurricane Val damage continues to be repaired. The backup generator again required radiator replacement. The starter and the injectors had failed and were replaced. The photovoltaic system was disconnected in August because the batteries failed to hold a charge. New batteries were requested, but due to high cost they were not ordered. The island power was also unreliable due to hurricane damage.

A minor problem occurred with the lease agreement due to payments delayed by the mail in March and April. The Tula Chief threatened to change the locks on the observatory. The April payment arrived in time to dissuade the action.

A burglary occurred at the observatory building, taking the safe containing cash and paperwork. The perpetrators were caught but the stolen property never recovered. A new safe was cemented to the floor.

Two hurricanes were near Tutuila, yet with only minor damages incurring at the observatory. The two observatory vehicles, the Ford van and Toyota truck, were nearing 100,000 miles and both required constant maintenance. Process to replace the truck began at the end of the year. Power from the utility remains inconsistent and frequent blackouts occur. The frequent blackouts required a high demand of generator backup power and a generator overheating problem developed. The last overheating occurrence caused $12,000 worth of repairs. These repairs included a modification to prevent radiator water loss.

Major remodeling of T-7 was conducted by the Environmental Engineer and family, greatly improving the appearance.

Major station cleanup occurred. A new Dobson dome was installed and painted. The roof sealed with weatherproof paint and the Plexiglas windows replaced with hurricane glass. The old meteorological tower was dismantled and removed with the sampling intakes on the tower relocated to the new Bluesky Communications Tower. Those systems moved include the HATS and AGAGE intake lines, the meteorological wind and temperature sensors and the Miami Sea-Air Exchange Experiment South Pacific Aerosol Network (SEASPAN) filter system. A Local Area Network was created at the observatory using 10-base-T cabling enabling data exchange and network operations.

In 2001 the old carport was demolished and replaced with space for three vehicles. The new carport roof was used as the location for the revitalized photovoltaic (PV) array. The PV array was rehabilitated by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy/American Samoa Government’s Territorial Energy Office. Through the Territorial Energy Office (TEO) and the American Samoa Community College, manpower and technical supervision was supplied and the PV was erected. Its potential is to provide 30% of the stations daytime power requirements. Internet connections were investigated and an agreement was established through the Pan-Pacific Education and Communication Experiments by Satellite (PEACESAT) program. Anticipated date of connection during 2002.

Finally, the houses were gutted and remodeled. The Station Chief’s house, (T-7) was completed by contractors while the Station Engineer’s house was remodeled by the Engineer. Two new Ford Ranger trucks were purchased to replace the older Toyota and Mitsubishi Trucks.

In August a new matai was selected, Iuli Taumafai Barber. Offical paperwork completed in early 2002.

In April a fiber optic line was laid to the observatory by ASCTA (American Samoa Telecommunications Authority). An outgoing internet connection existed for the observatory, but access by the PI’s to their instruments was delayed until router access was obtained through ASCTA and a firewall installed. The desired connection was obtained in August.

Maintenance and repair continues to the observatory. The spalling on the roof overhang has been evaluated, money has been obtained to repair the stairway to the point, and the observatory interior has been repainted. The steel bracing for the CO2 tower was replaced by Duane Kitzis with stainless steel due to the excessive corrosion.

May 7th – 10th the Joint 25th Meeting of the AGAGE Scientists and Special Meeting of NOAA-CMDL Scientists was held in American Samoa. Over 20 participants came to the meetings and toured the observatory.