MeteoAndes

High-Andean lake facing a partly snow-covered mountain, with one person in the foreground
Field team travelling across a high-mountain snow surface
Automatic weather station installed on a glacier surface
Ice wall with visible alternating dark and light horizontal layers
High-mountain ice and snow formations with ridges and cornices
High-Andean wetland and snow-covered cordillera beneath an intense blue sky

Scientific programme · Peru · 2018–2026

We measure the ice
that remains.

Satellite altimetry, radar, weather stations and black-carbon sampling reveal how Peru’s tropical glaciers are changing —while separating demonstrated results from hypotheses still under evaluation.

See the main result Explore data

Elevation4,700 m Coordinate−13.9000 / −70.9000 SectionAndean puna ArchiveMeteoAndes field campaigns · 2026

Editorial transect assembled from photographs taken during different campaigns. It is not a single geodetic route.
Field traverse and safety control
Automatic weather station
Visible stratigraphy at the ice front

Magnitude and traceability

Key figures

113samples 2026 inventory · maximum nominal volume: 5.65 L Snow and ice samples registered across four sites.
68scenes 33 ASC + 35 DESC · Sentinel-1 Acquisitions audited for the Vilcanota InSAR geometry.
129passes 8 RGT · December 2018–February 2026 ICESat-2 passes included in the reviewed regional series.
−1.463m yr⁻¹ 95% CI: −2.357 to −0.596 m yr⁻¹ Hypsometry-weighted regional lowering in Vilcanota.
I

Main result · glacier response

Robust regional lowering in Vilcanota

Five independent estimators converge on surface lowering close to 1.5 m per year from 2018 to 2026. Area weighting prevents zones with denser satellite tracks from dominating the regional estimate.

Cordillera Vilcanota · 4,597–6,364 m · ICESat-2 ATL06-SR · 2018–2026

−1.463m yr⁻¹ · 95% CI: −2.357 to −0.596

Primary regional result, equivalent to −1.243 m water equivalent per year using a density of 850 kg m⁻³. This is neither a causal attribution to fires nor a complete mass-balance estimate.

Method, support and uncertainty

II

Multi-source system

The evidence chain

Each instrument observes a different physical variable. MeteoAndes preserves those distinctions so atmospheric exposure, deposition, energy and geometric response are not treated as interchangeable.

Atmosphere

Exposure

AL30 · AE33 · Sentinel-5P

Absorbing aerosols and transport.

Variable: eBC / aerosol indicators. Campaign unit: ng m⁻³. Status: preliminary.

Meteorology

Transport

AWS · ERA5-Land · CHIRPS

Temperature, wind, cloud and precipitation.

Daily database implemented; the consolidated multi-year climatology remains in preparation.

Deposition

Snow and ice

SP2 · ions · stratigraphy

Particles and tracers preserved in layers.

113 samples inventoried. Final concentrations, blanks and replicates must still be frozen.

Energy

Absorption

Albedo · SW/LW · Rn

Absorbed radiation and potential melt.

Equations and QA/QC implemented; a final surface-energy balance is not yet reported.

Response

Glacier change

ICESat-2 · Sentinel-1

Elevation change and coherent motion.

ICESat-2 consolidated; InSAR remains an advanced diagnostic until cumulative products are closed.
III

Sampling and observation

Five study units across three cordilleras

The network combines the regional Vilcanota glacier ensemble with four cryogeochemical campaign sites. Photographs come from the field archive supplied for this redesign.

Layered ice and snow formations in a high-mountain environmentMeteoAndes archive · 2026

Cordillera Vilcanota

Regional glacier ensemble

ICESat-2 2018–2026, Sentinel-1 InSAR and hydrometeorology.

4,597–6,364 m · 190 polygons in the AOI
Ice cap with snow cornices and layers beneath a blue skyMeteoAndes archive · 2026

Cusco · Vilcanota

Quelccaya

Meteorology, AL30 and 48 snow and ice samples.

2026 campaign · preliminary BC results
High-Andean lake and snow-covered mountain under a cloudy skyMeteoAndes archive · 2026

Junín · Huaytapallana

Huaytapallana / Cochas

Two AL30 sessions, documented AE33 series and 25 samples.

Preliminary eBC · comparative campaigns
Field team walking in single file across a snow surfaceMeteoAndes archive · 2026

Junín · Central Andes

Tunshu

21 samples and a high-mountain atmospheric campaign.

SP2 · ions · isotopes in preparation
Puna landscape with wetlands and a snow-covered cordillera in the backgroundMeteoAndes archive · 2026

Áncash · Cordillera Blanca

Mateo / Contrayerba

AL30 elevation gradient and a 19-sample profile from 0 to 95 cm.

2026 campaign · preliminary evidence

No sites match the active filters.
IV

Evidence grammar

Scientific status

Maturity is communicated by line form, not decorative colour. A complete technical architecture does not automatically constitute a causal conclusion.

Consolidated · ICESat-2 VilcanotaDefensible result with explicit uncertainty.
acquisitionQCanalysisvalidationpublication
Diagnostic · Vilcanota InSARGeometry verified; cumulative product and error budget under closure.
acquisitionQCanalysisvalidationpublication
Preliminary · black carbonData available; QA/QC, temporal synchronisation and analytical database remain open.
acquisitionQCanalysisvalidationpublication
Pending · wildfire attributionSentinel-5P and the event catalogue do not yet yield causal evidence.
acquisitionQCanalysisvalidationpublication
V

Energy mechanism

Darkening changes absorbed energy

The comparison is conceptual: the photographs were not taken at the same location or time. The control explores the change in absorption under 600 W m⁻² of incoming shortwave radiation.

High-mountain surface with dark rock and residual snow, used as a conceptual low-reflectance endpoint Clean snow surface with undulating forms, used as a conceptual high-reflectance endpoint Clean surface · α ≈ 0.80 Darkened surface · α ≈ 0.45

Represented albedo0.63
Absorbed shortwave radiation225 W m⁻²
Additional absorption vs clean snow105 W m⁻²
MeteoAndes archive · 2026 campaignsConceptual comparison, not a controlled photo pairControl: arrows ±5%, Home/End to extremes
VI

Attribution and limits

What MeteoAndes does not claim

Transparency is not a footnote. It is part of the result and prevents technical complexity from being turned into a causal story stronger than the available evidence.

  • It does not claim that wildfires caused the ICESat-2 lowering rate.
  • It does not treat a high AL30 session as a climatology or as the concentration deposited on the glacier.
  • It does not convert monthly InSAR dU directly into dh/dt, mass balance or three-dimensional velocity.
  • It does not assign an unequivocal black-carbon source from a single ion or an exploratory correlation.
Field team standing on a glacier surface under a clear sky

Open science from the Andes · Christian Riveros

Data catalogue Publications Contact

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