Microclimatic monitoring, thermal mapping and predictive models can help identify vulnerable areas and improve frost protection strategies.
Spring frost is one of the most difficult climatic risks to manage in vineyards, partly because temperature can vary significantly even within the same plot. Differences in elevation, slope, exposure, air movement and soil conditions can create highly localised frost-prone areas.
In Saint-Émilion, an experimental monitoring system combines field sensors with historical weather data, georeferenced information, satellite imagery and thermal surveys to improve frost risk prediction at vineyard scale.
Sensors continuously measure parameters such as air temperature and humidity, soil temperature and moisture, wind, rainfall, leaf wetness and solar radiation. These data are used to develop predictive models and risk maps that can help growers decide when and where to activate frost protection systems.
More accurate forecasting can make protection more targeted, improving efficiency while reducing unnecessary consumption of water, energy and other resources.
The following short video shows how these technologies can be combined to improve frost risk prediction and support more precise vineyard management.
Vinidea, in collaboration with SIVE, a partner of the AgriDataValue project, presents this short video produced by Saint-Émilion | AgriDataValue Consortium Partner:
Beyond frost: other applications in the vineyard
The same data-driven approach can support several other areas of vineyard management through the integration of weather and soil monitoring, edge-cloud technologies, georeferenced images and multispectral data from drones and satellites.
These tools can help to:
- monitor the physiological status of the vine, including vigour and water stress;
- identify early the conditions favouring grapevine diseases;
- optimise the timing and spatial targeting of plant protection treatments;
- assess the impact of drought, heat and other climatic stresses;
- identify the most vulnerable vineyard zones and adapt irrigation, canopy management and other agronomic practices.
The aim is to transform vineyard data into actionable information for crop protection, agronomic management and grape quality.
