areas, a national program will be intended . A general methodology would be ob- 
tained by studying six pilot zones along the country (Fig. 5, Photo 5). The partial 
sponsoring of Service for Scientific Development, ‘University of Chile, will be ve- 
ry useful to accomplish.this purpose. The final objectives of this program are : 
a) to obtain à national cadaster on geothermal resources, at least at scale 1; 
250.000; the participation of other national institutions will be necessary when 
the operational methodology be determined ; b) to stablish a permanent surveillan- 
ce system to monitor volcanic activity along the country ; c) to intend to stablish 
models to corelate regional geology (mainly geologic faults and linements), vol- 
canism and regional seismicity (the participation of Seismology Section, Department 
of Geology and Geophysics, University of Chile, will help to accomplish this last 
objective). 
Three steps will be followed to accomplish this national program and 
these stages are defined by the main data sources to be used: 1) Experimental 
Stage or Landsat 1,2,3 data (1980/82). Important experience has been accumulated 
in the study of local and regional areas. 2) Semi-Operational Stage or Landsat-D 
data (1982/84). Thermal images of Landsat-D and the high spatial resolution ima- 
ges of the MSS sensor will be very important to improve the methodology, tested 
in six pilot zones along Chile. 3) Operational Stage or SPOT data (since 1985). 
It is supposed that by 1985 the general methodology will be determined and the use 
of the very high resolution SPOT images (10 and 20 m) and Landsat-D images will 
allow to develop accurate studies over almost any zone in the country. 
Due to the important relation of volcanic zones along Los Andes Range, 
it would be possible to apply similar methodologies to study the geothermal acti- 
vity along Los Andes. Of course, some variations will be necessary for every re- 
gion or country, depending on the local environmental conditions. But anyway, as 
a general idea, it would be possible to develop such type of continental programs 
by using remote sensing techniques. If digital interpretation techniques are used, 
more accurate studies and results could be obtained; anyway, analogic techniques 
are enough good for these purposes by now. The existence of the Sociedad de Espe- 
cialistas Latinoamericanos en Percepción Remota, SELPER (Society of Latin American 
Expertises on Remote Sensing) could help to make easier the scientific contacts to 
develop this type of continental programs. 
STUDY OF SNOW-WATER RESOURCES ALONG CHILE 
In spite of this program is not directly related with the study of geo- 
thermal resources, the main aspects are here included because the same basic infor 
mation can be used for both purposes (monthly multispectral/multitemporal Landsat 
images). A pilot project to study Andean snow-water resources, for snowmelting 
forecasts, will be jointly developed with Dirección General de Aguas (National 
Water Survey, DGA). Three pilot basins will be used for these purposes (Fig. 6): 
Elqui River, Maipo River and Nuble River. It is hoped to have results by ending 
1982 (Engs. Mauricio Araya and Alejandro Farias, "niversity of Chile; Engs. Hum- 
berto Pefian and Javier Narbona, DGA). This project will be developed in the Central 
Zone of Chile due to its importance in Chilean agriculture and hydroelectric power 
generation. During the dry season (October-April) the water supply for this zone 
depends on the snowmelting. For this reason it is very important to improve the 
&ctual forecasts by using information that can be rather easily obtained. In this 
sense, monthly Landsat images looks very useful to accomplish these purposes: co- 
relations between snowcovered area and snowmelt runoff. D.G.A. has a data bank 
(monthly Tandsat images, since 1977) that will be used in this pilot study, and so 
to determine the operational methodology to be used in the next future, This basic 
data can also be used to study geothermal resources, as described formerly. The 
use of Satellite Data Collection Systems is also evaluated by D.G.A. , that opera- 
tes by now about six Data Collection Platforms in Los Andes Range to collect hydro- 
meteorological data. In the next future , snow-water resources and geothermal re- 
sources will also be studied in Antarctic Peninsula, where a Remote Sensing Program 
is being jointly developed with Chilean Antarctic Institute,INACH (Fig. 7). The 
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