Development of a real-time spatial assessment tool for grapevine canopy vigour and water stress

Abstract

Knowledge of spatial variability in vineyards is increasingly being incorporated into harvest, fertiliser and pest/disease management decisions. To improve irrigation efficiency and productivity, vineyard managers should also consider the spatial variability in vine water use and water stress. A portable system capable of assessing real-time spatial variability in canopy vigour and water stress was developed and tested in a commercial vineyard. The system consisted of two sensing platforms - normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) and infra-red (IR) temperature. Both sensors were logged to a military grade portable Windows consumer electronic (CE) device at > 5 Hz frequencies using the..