The Amazing Amazon Project is studying the 
huge features of such model through LANDSAT 
Thematic Mapper images. The sypnotic viewing of 
LANDSAT together with aerial sampled photos and 
video are the main support to geological analysis. 
Starting point of the Project was to map exactly the 
very headstream of the Amazon in the Andes. 
2.BACKGROUNDS 
First written reports about the Amazon were 
those of the Spanish explorers in middle 16th centu- 
ry. Francisco Orellana left Ecuador in 1542 following 
the Eastern white waters and is indicated in the 
usual literature as the first explorer to cross South 
America traveling the Amazon. The Ucayali River, 
the central feature to this article, was initially trav- 
eled by Juan Salinas in the early Spring of 1557. It 
looks like Orellana followed the waters of Napo 
River because it is the only big river that leaves 
Ecuador and enters the Amazon after the mouth of 
Ucayali. 
The headwaters of the Amazon have been 
adopted as the Marafion River for centuries due to 
larger channel when compared to Ucayali and 
Huallaga rivers. The analysis of the last two rivers in 
terms of their length has shown that they both are 
longer then the Marañon. In the case of Ucayali we 
may say hardly longer because to our analysis his 
very first slope is sited at least 4 and half degrees 
higher in latitude than the Marañon birthplace. 
Measurements of the Amazon length following 
the Ucayali River instead of Marafion River were 
carried out by many cartographers and geographers. 
Most of the measurements released in the last 50 
years are summarized in table 1. 
1. O.H. Walkey UK 1949 6.517 km 
2. E.J. Devroey USA 1950 6.595 km 
3. David Cook USA 222? 6.750 km (South.ch.) 
4. David Cook USA 777? 6.448 km (North.ch.) 
5. HAP-Peru Peru 7722? 6.885 km 
6. SGN-Peru Peru 27??? 6.762 km 
7.J.Cousteau France 1984 7.025 km 
8.JC.PGrande Brazil 1955 6.571 km 
Table 1. Measurements of Amazon Length. 
476 
Several Missions to/from Ucayali and Apurimac 
rivers are described in books and magazines. The 
more important was that of Loren McIntyre in 1971 
when he traced the Amazon on the slopes of Mount 
Mismi in Southern Peru. Another very important 
task was accomplished by Brazilian newswoman 
Paula Saldanha and videomaker Roberto Werneck 
in late 1994. They led a TV team to Mount Mismi and 
are the first Brazilians to reach that slope of the 
Amazon. 
Those measurements and the missions Were 
based in different maps and scales. Most of the car. 
tographic information were drawn from pachromat. 
ic air photos with lack of synoptic, temporal and 
spectral attributes that we think to be hardly impor- 
tant to study the Amazon waters. These attributes 
are largely found in Thematic Mapper frames and so 
emphasis has been made in the use of LANDSAT 
data. 
3.REMOTE SENSING AND CARTOGRAPHIC 
DATA 
A good collection of TM prints ready to be 
analysed is available at INPE Customer Service in 
Säo José dos Campos. Almost 600 color 250.000 
prints covering Brazil and part of South America are 
archived in the office and were largely used to study 
the Amazon stream until Iquitos. Table 2 shows the 
list of TM images, the Shuttle frame and additional 
cartographic information. 
4SOME METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS 
To study the Ucayali-Apurimac waterscape is 
not such easy issue since the first stream lays around 
5,000 meters height and falls to last than 70 meters in 
the Peruvian Amazonia. The very deep slopes in the 
highlands causes the Apurimac to flow in the shad- 
ows mostly of the low sun elevation angles of the 
winter days. Images of winter are easier to find due 
to the lack of clouds but they were collected at low 
elevation angles of sun illumination (range 37-43). 
In some cases as downwards of Quehue and 
Acobamba Abyss is hardly difficult to outline the 
Apurimac bounds because of the shadowing due to 
the 300 meters steep slopes. The interpretative pro- 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B7. Vienna 1996