Review. Precision viticulture. Research topics, challenges and opportunities in site-specific vineyard management

Abstract

Precision Viticulture (PV) is a concept that is beginning to have an impact on the wine-growing sector. Its practical implementation is dependant on various technological developments: crop sensors and yield monitors, local and remote sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), VRA (Variable-Rate Application) equipment and machinery, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and systems for data analysis and interpretation. This paper reviews a number of research lines related to PV. These areas of research have focused on four very specific fields: 1) quantification and evaluation of within-field variability, 2) delineation of zones of differential treatment at parcel level, based on the analysis and interpretation of this variability, 3) development of Variable-Rate Technologies (VRT) and, finally, 4) evaluation of the opportunities for site-specific vineyard management. Research in these fields should allow winegrowers and enologists to know and understand why yield variability exists within the same parcel, what the causes of this variability are, how the yield and its quality are interrelated and, if spatial variability exists, whether site-specific vineyard management is justifiable on a technical and economic basis.Additional key words: grape yield maps, local and remote sensors, selective vintage, within-field variability, yield monitor, zonal management. ResumenRevisión. Viticultura de precisión. Líneas de investigación, retos y oportunidades del manejo sitio-específico en viña La Viticultura de Precisión (VP) es un concepto que empieza a tener un cierto impacto en el sector vitivinícola. Su implementación práctica está ligada al desarrollo de cierta tecnología: sensores y monitores de cosecha, sensores locales y remotos, Sistemas de Posicionamiento Global (SPG), equipos y maquinaria de aplicación variable, Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) y sistemas para el análisis y la interpretación de la información. En este trabajo se ha llevado a cabo una revisión de las diferentes líneas de investigación relacionadas con la VP. Dichas áreas de investigación se han centrado en cuatro ámbitos muy concretos: 1) cuantificación y evaluación de la variabilidad intraparcelaria, 2) delimitación a nivel de parcela de zonas de tratamiento diferencial, en base al análisis y la interpretación de dicha variabilidad, 3) desarrollo de tecnologías para la actuación variable en campo (variable-rate technologies, VRT) y, finalmente, 4) evaluación de la oportunidad del manejo sitio-específico en viticultura. La investigación en estos ám-bitos debe permitir a viticultores y enólogos conocer y comprender por qué la cosecha varía dentro de una misma parcela, cúales son las causas de dicha variación, cómo están interrelacionadas la cosecha y su calidad y, ante la existencia de variabilidad espacial, si está justificado técnica y económicamente el manejo diferencial de los viñedos.Palabras clave adicionales: manejo zonal, mapas de vendimia, monitor de cosecha, sensores locales y remotos, variabilidad intraparcelaria, vendimia...

Individual plant definition and missing plant characterization in vineyards from high-resolution UAV imagery

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Are precision agriculture tools and methods relevant at the whole-vineyard scale?

“…Since the earliest studies in the 1990s, there have been significant improvements in both the spatial resolution of remotely obtained information, currently of the order of centimetres (Hall et al, 2010) and in the mathematical analyses performed with the information acquired (Pedroso et al, 2010, Paoli et al, 2007. To date, precision agriculture tools and methods have been mainly applied at the field level, and much research has highlighted the ability of high resolution data to match within field variability at this scale (Acevedo-Opazo et al, 2008a, Acevedo-Opazo et al, 2008b, and the potential benefits of its management according to the obtained zoning , Taylor, 2004, Arnó et al, 2009. The field level corresponds to a production unit that has the same age, variety and rootstock, and is usually managed uniformly in terms of fertilization, pruning, irrigation, etc.…”

Surface Temperatures at the Continental Scale: Tracking Changes with Remote Sensing at Unprecedented Detail

“…High spatial and temporal resolution datasets of environmental indicators are crucial requirements for detailed analyses in various fields of research [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Important environmental indicators are derived from temperature time series [7], since temperature is a main driver for most ecological and environmental processes [8].…”