IBGE and the Military Institute of Engineering (IME) have been at Parque Nacional da Serra do Caparaó (National Park of the Caparaó Mountan Range) with the objective of recalculating the altitude two peaks, Bandeira and Cristal, and to measure, for the first time, the altitude of other two: Calçado and Calçado Mirim. This expedition is part of a partnership established between both institutes in the project called Pontos Culminates do Brasil (Brazil’s Culminating Points), which has already conducted a survey on the Mantiqueira Mountain Range. This study showed that the Pedra da Mina peak is higher than the Agulhas Negras one, and that Neblina peak, the highest in the country, surpasses by 20 meters its latests measures, which date back to the 1960's.

This time, the team, formed by 20 persons, has the support of the 5^th Surveying Division of the Army and is expected to cover part of the exploration area by bus in order to reach the spot called Alto do Caparaó, 420 km far from Rio. The nest step of the trip will require the use of smaller cars, in order to reach the Tronqueira area. From this location the explorers trail up to the peaks.

The work proposed is the installation and operation of four GPS high-precision receivers on the four peaks. These appliances are fed by motorcycle batteries and are expected to collect data for a period of 12 hours nonstop. An electricity generator is part of the expedition material, and it can be used in case of breakdown and for battery recharge as well.

Similar appliances aimed at data collection have been placed simultaneously in reference points located in Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. After the expedition, all these data will be processed by IBGE, making it possible to calculate the altitude with centimeter precision.

In the expedition to Neblina peak, the explorers managed to measure two mountains at once. In the current one, six mountains will be measured simultaneously, with the use of four GPS receivers and four teams working at the same time. Their return is schedule for the coming 23rd of this month. Besides that, the results obtained from the two new peaks, Calçado and Calçado Mirim may be surprising. Neither has been measure before, but being probably as high as 2,800 meters, they may alter the altitude ranking of Brazilian peaks one more time.