Ubinas Volcano, Peru

This false-color image of Peru's Ubinas volcano was acquired on April 14, 2014, by NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, or UAVSAR. Located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the city of Arequipa, Ubinas is Peru's most active volcano.

UAVSAR flew exactly the same flight path over Ubinas in 2013. By combining the images from the two years, researchers will produce detailed maps of surface motions that can improve models of volcanic deformation.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mount Huascarán, Peru

The snow-capped mountains running through the center of this satellite image are part of the Cordillera Blanca – or ‘white range’ – in South America’s Andes. Even though they are part of the typically warm Tropics – the region of Earth surrounding the equator – the mountain range is high enough to be permanently covered in snow and ice.

There are hundreds of glaciers in this range, providing a major source of water for irrigation and hydroelectric power. The glaciers and snow-covered areas ‘collect’ rain and snow during the rainy season and slowly release it during the drier times of the year. Over the last decades, the glaciers have experienced major losses owing to climate change, causing a major threat to water supply during the dry season in the future.

Located near the center of this image, Mount Huascarán is the highest peak in Peru at 6768 m. The summit is one of the farthest points from Earth’s center, meaning it experiences the lowest gravity on the planet.

North of Huascarán, we can see an outlet glacier that meets another outlet from the Chopicalqui mountain to the east. Numerous blue glacial lakes are visible in the valleys between the mountains.

The Huascarán National Park protects this mountainous area, and has been on the UNESCO world heritage list since 1985. The spectacled bear, puma, mountain cat, white-tailed deer and vicuna are important indigenous species, but have all been heavily hunted in the past.

This image, acquired by Japan’s ALOS satellite on 24 August 2010, is featured on the Earth from Space video program.

Image credit: JAXA/ESA

South America and the Andes Mountains

An unusual view of South America and the Andes mountains, acquired by Proba-V on 23 April 2014.

Image credit: ESA/VITO

Ubinas Volcano, Peru

On April 28, 2014, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft acquired this image of Ubinas volcano in the Peruvian Andes. The appearance of a new lava dome in March 2014 and frequent ash emissions are signs of increasing activity at this volcano. The left image depicts vegetation in red, and shows a gray plume streaming south from the summit caldera. The right image is a combination of ASTER thermal infrared bands, highlighting the ash-rich composition of the eruptive plume. The image covers an area of 20 by 37 miles (33 by 60 kilometers), and is located at 16.3 degrees north, 70.9 degrees west.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Peruvian Foothills

The foothills of the Andes mountains near the southern coast of Peru were captured by the Kompsat-2 satellite on 4 May 2011. The Andes stretch about 7000 km from Venezuela down South America’s west coast to the top of Argentina. The mountain range is the result of the Nazca and Antarctic tectonic plates moving under the South American plate – a geological process called ‘subduction’. This process is also responsible for the Andes range’s volcanic activity.

Photo credit: KARI/ESA

Napo River in Ecuador and Peru

On March 17, 2013, NASA’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) acquired synthetic aperture radar data over the Napo River in Ecuador and Peru. The image colors indicate the likelihood of inundation (flooding) beneath the forest canopy, which is difficult to determine using traditional optical sensors. Red and yellow shades indicate a high likelihood of standing water with emergent vegetation, blue and green shades are areas less likely to be inundated, and black indicates the open water areas of the Napo River. These data, which have already been transmitted to a field team working along the Napo River, will be used to guide field measurements during a second observation by UAVSAR on March 31, 2013. The image is a 8.7-mile-wide by 5.6-mile-long (14-kilometer-wide by 9-kilometer-long) segment of an image measuring more than 124 miles (200 kilometers) long. North is toward the upper right. The resolution is 20 feet (6 meters). UAVSAR data like these are helping scientists assess the effectiveness of using synthetic aperture radar data to study the inundation dynamics of this and similar rivers around the world.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Note: For more information, see NASA Flies Radar South on Wide-Ranging Expedition; also, PIA16942: NASA Sends Unmanned Aircraft To Study Volcanoes and Wetlands.