Valparaiso Jürg Lichtenegger Valparaiso ................................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 Worksheets ............................................................................................................................. 3

Exercises using prints ......................................................................................................... 3 Exercises using LEO-Works .............................................................................................. 9

Links ..................................................................................................................................... 15

Introduction The pacific coastal waters and lands of Latin America still fascinate scientists and naturalists and todays available satellite images make it even more astonishing. This is to be discover here. But adventurer and business attract even more people and for them Valparaiso is the main entry point to Chile, a country and nation of extreme diversity.

Background Valparaíso’s bay was first populated by Changos, an ethnic group dedicated to fishing and gathering. Spanish explorers arrived in 1536, on the Santiaguillo, a ship sent by Diego de Almagro, considered the first European explorer of Chile. The Santiaguillo carried men and supplies for Almagro’s expedition, under the command of Juan de Saavedra, who named the town after his native village of Valparaíso de Arriba in Spain. During Spanish colonial times, Valparaíso remained a small village, with only a few houses and a church. After Chile’s independence from Spain,1918, Valparaíso became the main harbour for the nascent Chilean navy, and opened to international trade, which had been limited to commerce with Spain and its other colonies.

Fig.1. Valparaiso in 1830 (Wikipedia, public domain photo) Valparaíso soon became a required stopover for ships crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Strait of Magellan and Cape Horn, and gained particular importance supporting and supplying the California Gold Rush (1848-1858). In its role as a major

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seaport, Valparaíso received immigrants from many European countries, mainly from England, Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy. German, French, Italian and English were commonly spoken among its citizens, who also had newspapers in these same languages. International immigration transformed the local culture from its Spanish origins. Football (soccer) was introduced to Chile by English immigrants, and the first private catholic school in Chile was founded by French immigrants in Valparaíso: Le Collège de Les Sacrés Cœurs (The Sacred Hearts School) which has been operating for about 170 years. Immigrants from England and Germany founded the first private, secular schools, (The MacKay School, and Die Deutsche Schule respectively). Immigrants also formed the first volunteer fire-fighting units (still a volunteer activity in Chile), while architecture reflected various European styles, not just Spanish traditions. The golden age of Valparaíso’s commerce ended after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, as most ships sought to avoid the Strait of Magellan and the port’s importance and use was reduced substantially. Traffic has increased in the last few decades with fruit exports, increasing opening of the Chilean economy to world commerce, and ships that do not fit the Panama Canal Valparaíso is Chile’s most important seaport and an increasingly vital cultural centre. Although Santiago is Chile's official capital, Valparaiso houses the National Congress. Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy. Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often considered to be one of Latin America’s most intriguing urban areas. Valparaiso like most of Chile is vulnerable to earthquakes. The last major earthquake to strike the city directly was in 1906 which devastated the city and killed nearly 20,000 people.

Fig.2 Valparaiso – and the ship “Vaedderen” Galathea 3 photo archive In 2003, the Chilean Congress declared Valparaíso to be “Chile’s Cultural Capital” and home for the nation’s new cultural ministry. Although technically only Chile’s 6th largest city, with 263,499 inhabitants (2002 census), the Greater Valparaíso metropolitan area, including the neighboring resort city of Viña del Mar, is the second largest in the country (803,683 inhabitants). The city is an important educational centre with nine universities. Major industries include tourism, culture, and transport. Valparaíso stages a major festival attended by hundreds of

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thousands of participants on the last three days of every year. The festival culminates with a “New Year’s by the Sea” fireworks show, the biggest in all of Latin America, attended by a million tourists who fill the coastline and hillsides with a view of the bay. Approximately 50 international cruise ships call on Valparaíso during the 4-month Chilean summer. The port of Valparaíso is also an important hub for shipping of container freight, and exports of wine, copper, and fresh fruit. In the interior valleys in the Valparaiso and Santiago region there is a booming export industry mainly around the avocado (palta), chirimoyas and flowers as the most important products. The most striking recent development has been the cultivation of hill sides using high tech drip feed irrigation. This has allowed otherwise dry and unproductive land to bear high yields

Fig.3 Chile Congress in Valaparaiso Wikipedia, photo public domain The Chilean Congress meets in a modern building in the Almendral section of Valparaíso after relocation from Santiago during the last years of the military rule of general Augusto Pinochet. Although congressional activities were to be legally moved by a ruling in 1987, the newly built site only began to function as the seat of Congress during the democratically-elected government of Patricio Aylwin, who followed Pinochet, in 1990.

Worksheets

Exercises using prints The images to be printed are available HERE - Using_Print.zip

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Fig.4 MERIS of 20070217 false colour infrared Fig.5 MERIS of 20070217 chlorophyll cstontent of sea and lake waters Fig.6 MERIS of 20070208 false colour infrared Fig.7 MERIS of 20070208 chlorophyll content of sea and lake waters Fig.9 Radar image of the Andes from ENVISAT ASAR 20070208 Fig.10 MERIS of 20030110 natural colour image Fig.11 Radar image of Valparaiso acquired from ENVISAT on 20070210 Fig.12 Valparaiso seen with PROBA satellite’s panchromatic camera on 20060903 Fig.13 Valparaiso street map

Look up the country of Chile in your school atlas. 1) What is the extension of this country? 2) Compare minimum and maximum latitude with Europe and describe the climate zones

covered. 3) What is the largest and smallest width of Chile (east to west dimensions). 4) Name the neighbour countries.

Fig.4 MERIS of 20070217 false colour infrared 5) Gain an overview of the northern part of Chile observing and analysing Fig.4. Compare it

with a map in your atlas. Note what part of Chile it represents and find some towns on the map and place them correctly in the satellite image

6) What is the extension in km of this portion and what is the length of the whole country (until the southern most tip of Latin America)?

Fig.4. is a false colour infrared image acquired on 17 February 2007. Vegetation is represented in red. Analyse the image in this respect: 7) explain the occurrence and the absence of vegetated areas on both sites of the Andes. Use

the climate map for your analysis. 8) In green appear huge alluvial fans.

Explain why this morphological feature is so widely distributed and well visible.

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Fig.5 MERIS of 20070217 chlorophyll content of sea and lake waters Fig.5 is derived from Fig.4 and indicates the chlorophyll content of the coastal water and with the land masked in grey. 9) Explain the locally high concentration (red= very high concentration, yellow=high,

green=low, blue=very low). Use an ocean and wind current map in your atlas to explain.

Fig.6 MERIS of 20070208 false colour infrared Fig.6 shows a more southern part of Latin America, again it is a false colour infrared image acquired on 8th Feb. 2007. 10) Locate it with respect to a map in your atlas. For your orientation locate at least the two

cities of Comodoro Rivadavia and Puerto Montt. 11) Explain the distribution of the vegetation. 12) Where does the border run approximately between the two countries represented? 13) Name the principle landscapes. 14) Explain the occurrence of the many lakes.

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Fig.7 MERIS of 20070208 chlorophyll content of sea and lake waters Fig.7 is again a derivate of Fig.6 and show the chlorophyll content of the water, but with the land masked in grey. 15) Explain the massive and high concentration especially on the eastern side of the continent.

The general wind direction will help in the explanation. This area is also very rich in sea wild life (e.g. excellent for whale watching). Do you have an explanation for this?

16) Observe also the chlorophyll content of the lakes. Explain the differences. Let us turn back to the Andes and its population. The southern part is rough and scarcely populated.

Fig.8 The Galathea 3 expedition in the Southern coastal waters of Chile (archive of Galathea 3) Fig. 8 shows the landscape seen from the Galathea 3 expedition ship, while cruising between the islands along the Straight of Magellan (Look it up in your atlas)

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Fig.9 Radar image of the Andes from ENVISAT ASAR 20070208 Fig. 9 show the central part of Chile as seen by the radar onboard of Envisat. It was acquired on 8th Feb 2007. The bright spot represent settlements and cities. . 17) Locate Santiago and Valparaiso! Observe the location of the many other towns and try to

explain it 18) The topography is well accentuated in radar images. To appreciate this effect even better

turn the image 90 degrees anticlockwise.

Fig.10 MERIS of 20030110 natural colour image Fig.10 is a natural colour image from the MERIS instrument onboard Envisat acquired on 10th January 2003. 19) Locate Santiago. Observe the distribution of the vegetation (dark green are forests, light

green mainly agriculture), snow, rivers, on both sides of the Andes. Try to locate Mendoza.

20) Explain the existence of the agriculture land. What does is mainly produce (at least 3 types of products and the most important derivate).

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Fig.11 Radar image of Valparaiso acquired from ENVISAT on 20070210 Valparaiso is shown in an overview also as a radar image on Fig.11 showing its extension in yellow and magenta (mainly flat roofed buildings), green represents vegetation, dark green scarcely vegetated. 21) What represent the points in the water?

Fig.12 Valparaiso seen with PROBA satellite’s panchromatic camera on 20060903 Fig.12 taken from PROBA satellite on 3 Sept 2006 is a very high resolution optical image. Observe the different quarters with their characteristic houses and density of dwelling. On a overlaid transparency map the different types of quarter such as harbour installations, public installations such as parks, stadium, large block buildings, villas and small housing, 22) Where are they located with respect to the coast? The street map Fig.13 will help you.

Try to identify important public buildings such as the University. The Congress building is not included in Fig.12 but you might find it in Fig.11!

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Fig.13 Street map of Valparaiso 23) Discuss with your classmates the importance of Valparaiso for different aspects: Tourism,

import and export, fishing. Put it into relationship to Antofagasta but also to the main ports in the other countries of the Pacific coast of Latin America.

Exercises using LEOWorks Download all the images for the exercise HERE - LEOWorks.zip Fig.4 MERIS of 20070217 false colour infrared Fig.5 MERIS of 20070217 chlorophyll content of sea and lake waters Fig.6 MERIS of 20070208 false colour infrared Fig.7 MERIS of 20070208 chlorophyll content of sea and lake waters Fig.9 Radar image of the Andes from ENVISAT ASAR 20070208 Fig.10 MERIS of 20030110 natural colour image Fig.11 Radar image of Valparaiso acquired from ENVISAT on 20070210 Fig.12 Valparaiso seen with PROBA satellite’s panchromatic camera on 20060903 Fig.13 Valparaiso street map . Look up the country of Chile in your school atlas. 1. What is the extension of this country. 2. Compare minimum and maximum latitude with Europe and describe the climate zones

covered. 3. What is the largest and smallest width of Chile (east to west dimensions). 4. Name the neighbour countries.

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Fig.4. 20070217_135942_MERIS-4_bands Gain an overview of the northern part of Chile observing and analysing Fig.4. It is a 4 spectral band image with image 1 blue, image 2 green, image 3 red and image 4 near infrared. 5. Open all 4 images and use Interactive Stretching to enhance the contrast.

Do this carefully with each individual band/image by trying to have the main peak of the histogram around value 127, which mean in the middle of the respective histogram. After this operation we can combine 3 images to a colour combination:

- Natural colour: image 3 in red, image 2 in green and image 1 in blue. - False colour infrared: image 4 in red, image 3 in green and image 2 in blue Compare the natural colour image with a map in your atlas. 6. What portion of Chile does it represent? 7. What is the extension in km of this portion (click Image - Measure tool in LEOWorks)

and what is the length of the whole country (until the southern most tip of Latin America)? Consult your atlas!

Observe the false colour infrared image which was acquired on 17 February 2007. Vegetation is represented in red. 8. Analyse the image in this respect and explain the occurrence and the absence of vegetated

areas on both sites of the Andes. Use a climate map e.g. in your atlas for the analysis. In green appear huge alluvial fans. 9. Explain why this morphological feature is so widely distributed and well visible. (The

black pixels are dropouts because of not reliable satellite sensor measurements, mainly due to atmospheric conditions)

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Fig.5 MERIS of 20070217 chlorophyll content of sea and lake waters Fig.5 is derived from Fig.4 and indicates the chlorophyll content of the coastal water and with the land masked in grey. 10. Explain the locally high concentration (red= very high concentration, yellow=high,

green=low, blue=very low). Use an ocean and wind current map in your atlas to explain.

Fig.6 20070208_134758_MERIS_4bands Fig. 6.shows a more southern part of Latin America and was acquired on 8th Feb. 2007. Again open the 4 bands, enhance them and combine them in the same way as described for Fig.4. 11. Locate the natural colour image with respect to a map in your atlas. 12. Locate for your orientation at least the cities of Bahia Blanca, Comodoro Rivadavia and

Puerto Montt. Inspect the false colour infrared image. 13. Explain the distribution of the vegetation. 14. Where does the border run approximately between the two countries represented? 15. Name the principle landscapes. 16. Explain the occurrence of the many lakes.

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Fig.7 MERIS of 20070208 chlorophyll content of sea and lake waters Fig.7 is again a derivate of Fig.6 and show the chlorophyll content of the water, but with the land masked in grey. 17. Explain the massive and high concentration especially on the eastern side of the continent.

The general wind direction will help in the explanation. 18. This area is also very rich in sea wild life (e.g. famous for excellent whale watching). Do

you have an explanation for this? 19. Observe also the chlorophyll content of the lakes. Explain the differences.

Let us turn back to the Andes and its population. The southern part is rough and scarcely populated. The photo Fig. 8 shows the landscape seen from the Galathea 3 expedition ship, while cruising between the islands along the Straight of Magellan (Look it up in your atlas).

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Fig.9 20070208_ASAR-SouthAmerica Open Fig. 9. It shows the central part of Chile as seen by the radar onboard of Envisat. It was acquired on 8th Feb 2007. The bright spot represent settlements and cities. 20. Locate Santiago and Valparaiso! Observe the location of the many other towns and try to

explain it. 21. The topography is well accentuated in radar images. Fig_9_Aconcagua contains the

position of the highest mountain in the Americas. Open the file in the GIS tool. Use “Arbitrary” and “Map based” in the “Select the Transformation Method” window. With Edit – Property the point can be made more visible with Thickness = 4 and “Triangle” To appreciate the topographic effect even better turn the image 90 degrees left (anticlockwise): click Image – Rotate.

22. Again try to identify the area of the highest peak, the Aconcagua, some 110km NE of Santiago (use Fig_9_Aconcagua_rotated to check).

Fig.10 MERIS of 20030110 natural colour image Fig.10 is a natural colour image from the MERIS instrument onboard Envisat acquired on 10th January 2003. 23. Locate Santiago.

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24. Observe the distribution of the vegetation (dark green are forests, light green mainly agriculture), snow, rivers, on both sides of the Andes. Why are the deserted mountains that colourful? Try to locate the Argentinean city of Mendoza. Explain the existence of the agriculture land, there.

25. What does it mainly produce (at least 3 types of products and the most important derivate).

26. Trace the road from Mendoza across the Andes to Santiago. Use the GIS tool and generate a New Theme for this. Find the shortest road following the valleys and finding the least highest pass (minimum of snow!). Today the pass can still be used. It is La Cumbre pass and culminates at 3832m above mean sea level, but a tunnel has been recently built nearby.

27. Confront your result with the GIS file Fig_10_Mendoza-Santiago. To display it open it as theme in the GIS tool and use “Arbitrary” and “Pixel based” in the “Select the Transformation Method” window. The location of the Aconcagua is given with file Fig_10_Aconcagua. Open it as well with the GIS tool!

Fig.11 Radar image of Valparaiso acquired from ENVISAT on 20070210 Let us concentrate finally on Valparaiso. 28. Open Fig.11. It is an overview of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, the harbour of Santiago.

It is a radar image, acquired on 10th Feb. 2007 while the Galathea 3 expedition ship was in the harbour. It shows the extension of the built up area in yellow and magenta, where as each yellow or magenta point represent a building or a group of houses. In green represents vegetation, dark green scarcely vegetated. The colours are false since this radar image has been acquired in two different polarisation bands, which if combined result in a colour image.

29. Confront the inhabited area with the street map Fig.13. 30. Is this map up-to-date? 31. Observe the harbour area. What represent the points in the water?

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Fig.12 Valparaiso seen with PROBA satellite’s panchromatic camera on 20060903 Open Fig.12a and b, taken from PROBA satellite on 3 Sept 2006. It is a very high resolution optical image. Improve the contrast using Interactive Stretching. Observe the different quarters with their characteristic houses and density of dwelling. For the following task use only Fig.12a. Use the GIS tool to map the different quarters, differentiating as specifically defined attributes the following zones: - Zones of large buildings, - Zone of smaller houses but well organized in quarters, - Zones of very small houses. Fig.12b provides you with a ground photo. The pixel size of the HRC Instrument of PROBA is 5m x 5m. Having mapped the 3 types of quarters we can look at the statistics (click Tools -Information in the GIS tool) and get the total number of pixels for each of the 3 attributes. 32. What are the surfaces of each attribute? 33. Since the three type of dwelling represents also social classes. 34. What are the consequences with respect the quality of living in this town? The same exercise can be done using Fig.12b 35. Discuss the importance of Valparaiso for different aspects: Tourism, import and export,

fishing. Put it into relationship to Antofagasta but also to the main ports in the other countries of the Pacific coast of Latin America.

Links General on Valparaiso: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso Climate of the Andes: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/andes_climate_page.htm Valparaiso a UNESCO World Heritage Site: The colonial city of Valparaíso presents an excellent example of late 19th-century urban and architectural development in Latin America http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/959

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History of Valparaiso: http://www.rutavalparaiso.cl/web/win_en.htm