Abstract
Machu Picchu is an ancient Inca city located on a narrow ridge, within the Andes, approximately 80 km north-west of Cusco, Peru. This site of exceptional cultural heritage and its related infrastructure are being undermined by rapid debris flows, that are related to the presence of thick debris deposits produced by granite weathering, past slides and climatic conditions. On 26 December 1995 a rock fall/debris flow occurred on the road that leads to the citadel (Carretera Hiram Bingham) interrupting the traffic coming from the railway station of Aguas Calientes, and on 10 April 2004 a major debris flow, channeled in the Alcamayo stream, devastated the village of Aguas Calientes, causing 11 casualties and damaging the railway. Within the framework of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) a program of monitoring the instability conditions at this site was undertaken. In this work the preliminary results of the field survey and the analysis of some very high resolution (VHR) satellite images are presented. A multi-temporal analysis of Quickbird satellite (from Digitalglobe©) panchromatic and multispectral data was carried out: an archive image dated 18 June 2002 was available while a new acquisition with a good image was obtained on 18 May 2004. The main purpose of the analysis was the reconnaissance of debris flows using remote sensing techniques. The remote sensing data analysis was integrated with a field survey, carried out in September 2004. This allowed us to confirm the interpretation of the images, to produce a detailed geomorphological map of the area around the Carretera Hiram Bingham and to assess the thickness of debris deposits on the slopes. The results constitute a first step towards a complete debris flow hazard assessment in the area, where the interactions between slope instability and land use can produce very critical conditions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alves DS, Pereira JLG, De Sousa CL, Soares JV, Yamaguchi F (1999) Caracterizing landscape changes in central Rondonia using Landsat TM imagery. Int J Remote Sens 20(14):2877–2882
Calcaterra D, Parise M, Dattola L (1996) Debris flows in deeply weathered granitoids (Serre Massif, Calabria, Southern Italy). In: Senneset K (ed) Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Landslides, Balkema, Trondheim, pp 171–176
Carlotto V, Càrdenas J, Romero D, Valdivia W, Tintaya D (1999) Geologìa de los quadràngulos de Quillabamba y Machu Picchu. Boletìn no. 127, serie A: Carta Geologica Nacional, Lima, pp 321
Carreño R, Bonnard C (1997) Rock slide at Machupicchu, Peru. Landslide News 10:15–17
Catani F, Righini G, Moretti S, Dessena MA, Rodolfi G (2002) Remote sensing and GIS as tools for the hydro geomorphological modelling of soil erosion in semi-arid Mediterranean regions. MIS2002 Management Information Systems, WIT Press, 2002. pp 43–52
Chadwick J, Thackray G, Dorsch S (2005) Landslide surveillance: new tools for an old problem. EOS 86(11)
Chigira M (2001) Micro-sheeting of granite and its relationship with landsliding specifically after the heavy rainstorm in June 1999, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Eng Geol 59:219–231
Copesco (1997) Mehoramento acceso Puente Ruinas conjunto arqueologico de Machupicchu. Projecto Especial Regional Plan Copesco, Cusco, pp 147
Crosta AP, Moore JMcM (1989) Geological mapping using Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery in Almeria Province, Southeast Spain. Int J Remote Sens 10(3):505–514
Davis CH, Wang X (2002) Urban land cover classification from high resolution multi-spectral IKONOS imagery. Proceedings of IGARSS 24–28 June 2002, Toronto, Canada
Durgin PB (1977) Landslides and the weathering of granitic rocks. Rev Eng Geol 3:127–131
Haeberlin Y, Turberg P, Retiere A, Senegas O, Parriaux A (2004) Validation of SPOT-5 satellite imagery for geological hazard identification and risk assessment for landslides, mud and debris flows in Maragalpa, Nicaragua. XXth ISPRS Congress, XXXV, part B1, Int. Soc. for Photogramm. and Remote Sensing, Istanbul, Turkey, 12–13 July 2004
Hervas J, Barredo JI, Rosin PL, Pasuto A, Mantovani F, Silvano S (2003) Monitoring landslides from optical remotely sensed imagery: the case history of Tessina landslide, Italy. Geomorphology 54:63–75
Lee SG, De Freitas MH (1989) A revision of the description and classification of weathered granite and its application to granite in Korea. Q J Eng Geol 22:31–48
Liu JG, Mason PJ, Clerici N, Chen S, Davis AM, Miao F, Deng H, Lieng L (2003) Landslide hazard assessment in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River using ASTER imagery. Proceedings of IGARSS 2003, 21–25 July 2003
Mantovani F (2000) Remote sensing techniques on landslide detection and monitoring. Natural Hazard on built-up areas Proceedings of CERG Intensive course, 25–30 September 2000
Mantovani F, Soeters R, Van Westen CJ (1996) Remote sensing techniques for landslide studies and hazard zonation in Europe. Geomorphology 15(3–4):213–225
Nagarajan R, Mukherjee A, Roy A, Khire MV (1998) Temporal remote sensing data and GIS application in landslide hazard zonation of part of Western Ghat, India. Int J Remote Sens 19(4):573–585
Palacios D, Garcia R, Rubio V, Vigil R (2003) Debris flows in a weathered granitic massif: Sierra de Gredos, Spain. Catena 51:115–140
Sassa K, Fukuoka H, Kamai T, Shuzui H (2001) Landslide risk at Inca’s World Heritage in Machu Picchu, Peru. Proceedings UNESCO/ IGCP Symposium on Landslide Risk Mitigation and Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage, Tokyo, pp 1–14
Sassa K, Fukuoka H, Shuzui H, Hoshino M (2002) Landslide risk evaluation in Machu Picchu World Heritage, Cusco, Peru. Proceedings UNESCO/IGCP Symposium on Landslide Risk Mitigation and Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage, Kyoto, pp 1–20
Sawaya KE, Olmanson LG, Heinert NJ, Brezonik PL, Bauer ME (2003) Extending satellite remote sensing to local scales: land and water resource monitoring using high-resolution imagery. Remote Sens Environ 88(1–2):144–156
Scanvic JY, Girault F (1989) Imagerie SPOT-1 et inventaire des mouvements de terrain: l’exemple de La Paz (Bolivie). Photointerpretation 89-2(1):1–20
Vanverstaeten M, Trefois P (1993) Detectability of land systems by classification from Landsat Thematic Mapper data of Virunga National Park (Zaire). Int J Remote Sens 14(14):2857–2873
Zhao J, Broms BB, Zhou Y, Choa V (1994) A study of the weathering of the Bukit Timah Granite. Bull Int Ass Eng Geoll 50:97–111
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Casagli, N., Fanti, R., Nocentini, M., Righini, G. (2005). Assessing the Capabilities of VHR Satellite Data for Debris Flow Mapping in the Machu Picchu Area (C101-1). In: Sassa, K., Fukuoka, H., Wang, F., Wang, G. (eds) Landslides. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-28680-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-28680-2_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-28664-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-28680-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)