In Perú, detailed field studies and surveys have been carried out at various times in response to the occurrence of hazards associated with glaciers and glacier lakes. Between 1932 and 1940, Austro-German expeditions carried out excellent surveys and produced maps by using terrestrial photogrammetry of the Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash at scales of 1:200,000, 1:100,000, 1:50,000, and 1:25,000 (table 5).
Table 5.--Selected maps of the glacierized areas of Perú
|
Glacierized area |
Name of map |
Scale |
Date |
Publisher or author |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cordillera Blanca |
Departamento de Ancash |
1:200,000 |
1976 |
Instituto Geográfico Militar, Lima |
|
Cordillera Blanca |
Carta Nacional sheets: |
1:100,000 |
1971-76 |
Instituto Geográfico Militar, Lima |
|
Cordillera Blanca |
Cordillera Blanca (southern part) |
1:100,000 |
1949 |
Map accompanies Kinzl (1949) |
|
|
Cordillera Blanca (from lat 8°40'S. to 9°30'S.) |
1:100,000 |
pre-1955 |
Klein and Volbert, Munich (publisher) |
|
|
Cordillera Blanca (southern part) |
1:100,000 |
1964 |
Kinzl (author) |
|
|
|
|
1972 |
Kinzl (author) |
|
Cordillera Blanca |
Cordillera Blanca |
1:100,000 |
1977 |
Alpine Club of Canada and American Alpine Club in Yuraq Janka by John F. Ricker |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cordillera Blanca |
Proyecto |
1:25,000 |
1968 |
Servicio Aerofotográfico Nacional |
|
Cordillera Huayhuash |
Cordillera de Huayhuash |
1:50,000 |
1939 |
Deutscher Alpenverein (accompanies Kinzl, Schneider, and Ebster, 1942) |
|
|
|
|
1942 |
Kinzl-Schneider (authors) |
|
|
|
|
1954 |
Kinzl-Schneider (authors) |
|
Cordillera Raura |
Cordillera Raura |
1:133,333 |
1974 |
American Alpine Club, American Alpine Journal, v. 19, no. 48, p. 107 |
|
Cordillera Central |
Proyecto 9221-A-190 |
1:10,000 |
1957 |
Servicio Aerofotográfico Nacional |
|
Cordillera de Chonta |
23 sheets |
1:50,000 |
1948 |
Dirección General de Ferrocarriles and Ministerio de Fomento y Obras Públicas |
|
Quelccaya ice cap |
Sicuani, hoja 14j (Carta Nacional) |
1:200,000 |
1973 |
Instituto Geográfico Militar, Lima |
|
|
Nuñoa |
1:200,000 |
1973 |
Instituto Geográfico Militar, Lima |
|
Quelccaya ice cap |
Nuñoa, hoja 28u-III-SE |
1:25,000 |
1976 |
Ministerio de Agricultura, Oficina de Catastro Rural |
Subsequent to this European effort and because of the catastrophic glacier flood in 1941, the Peruvian government, through a special legislative act, began the first inventory of glacier lakes and glaciers, which was based on the interpretation of aerial photographs. In 1967, the Corporación Peruana del Santa contracted specifically to have maps made of the entire Cordillera Blanca at a scale of 1:25,000 by using aerial photogrammetry (Corporación Peruana del Santa, 1967-1995). In 1970, because of an earthquake and avalanche from the summit of Huascarán, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration carried out an aerial reconnaissance of part of the Cordillera Blanca that produced false-color infrared aerial photographs.
In 1972, Dr. Walter Welsch of Munich, Germany, using photogrammetric methods, compiled a map of Huascarán and the avalanche zone at scales of 1:25,000 and 1:15,000 (Welsch and Kinzl, 1970). In other parts of the country, the Instituto Geográfico Militar has compiled maps at scales of 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 by the use of aerial photographs. Between 1970 and 1974, photogrammetric maps of most of Perú were prepared at a scale of 1:25,000 as part of the Reforma Agraría programs.
The climatic conditions of the Cordillera Oriental, which include frequently cloudy weather, make it difficult to conduct aerial surveys and to acquire the vertical aerial photography needed to prepare maps. In order to avoid delays and the other problems caused by the cloudy conditions, the Government of Perú carried out an aerial survey between 1974 and 1977 that used side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) of the entire Cordillera Oriental of Perú from Ecuador in the north to Bolivia in the south. The SLAR survey also included parts of the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Occidental.
The information from the glacier and glacier lake inventory conducted by Electroperú has been plotted on the 1:25,000-scale photogrammetric maps produced for Reforma Agraría. The best examples of large-scale maps of glaciers of Perú are the 1:5,000-scale topographic maps prepared by Electroperú of five different types of glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Raura. In addition, Cesar Morales Arnao and Grocio Escudero constructed an 11-m model of the Cordillera Blanca at the scales of 1:25,000 and 1:12,500. Other regions of Perú have few large-scale maps that are useful for studies of glaciers. For example, no accurate maps exist for the Cordillera Vilcabamba and Cordillera Urubamba in the southern part of the country. Tables 5 and 6 list a selected group of maps and aerial photographs of the glacierized areas of Perú. A good listing of early sketch maps of glacierized areas of Perú is found in Mercer (1967).
Table 6.--Selected aerial photographs of the glacierized areas of Perú
|
Aerial photographs |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Glacierized area |
Scale |
Date |
Project or photograph identification |
Archive |
|
Chonta, Huanzo, Chila, Ampato, Volcánica, Barroso, |
1:60,000 |
1955-56 |
|
IGM1 |
|
Blanca, Huallanca, Huayhuash, Raura, La Viuda, Central, Chonta, Huaytapallana, La Raya, Huagáruncho, Urubamba, Vilcanota, Carabaya, Apolobamba |
1:50,000-1:60,000 |
1961 |
Topographic mapping |
IGM |
|
Vilcabamba |
1:40,000 |
-- |
Proyecto 66-60-A |
SAN |
|
Carabaya and Apolobamba |
1:40,000 |
1961-62 |
Proyecto 70-60-A |
SAN |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
La Viuda |
1:35,000 |
1955 |
Proyecto 7500-22 |
SAN |
|
Huaytapallana |
1961 |
|
Hunting Survey Corp. |
|
|
Huagaruncho |
1956-58 |
|
The Peruvian Corp. |
|
|
Blanca |
1:20,000 |
1948 |
Proyecto 2524 |
SAN |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Urubamba |
1:20,000 |
1956 |
Proyecto 8485 |
SAN |
|
Volcánica |
1:20,000 |
1961 |
|
|
|
Huallanca |
1:15,000 |
1954 |
Proyecto 6900-5 |
SAN |
|
Barroso |
1:15,000 |
1954 |
|
SAN |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ampato |
1:10,000 |
1950 |
Proyecto 3800 |
SAN |
|
Urubamba |
1:10,000 |
1956 |
Proyecto 8485A |
SAN |
|
La Viuda |
1:8,000 |
1951 |
Proyecto 5460 |
SAN |
|
Quelccaya ice cap |
Nov 1962 |
AF 60, frames |
|
|
|
|
|
May 1963 |
AF 60, frames |
|
|
|
|
Jul 1963 |
AF 60, frames |
|
|
Photomosaic |
||||
|
Glacierized area |
Name |
Scale |
Date |
Publisher |
|
Quelccaya ice cap |
Marcapata, hoja 28-III |
1:50,000 |
1966 |
IGM |
1IGM, Instituto Geográfico Militar, Lima.
2SAN, Servicio Aerofotográfico Nacional.
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U.S. Geological Survey, U.S.Department of the Interior