Share | 04/20/2017
Powered by CATUAV’s “Argos Mini” UAV and the MicaSense series RedEdge multispectral sensor, agricultural consultants are improving traditional grapevine management at one of Spain’s oldest vineyards.
Grup Roqueta Origen maintains various cellars and vineyards in Spain, producing high quality wines for markets across the globe. Their headquarters are aptly located in the wine region of Plà de Bages, Catalonia. This was the key region for wine production during the Roman Empire, before a phylloxera (aphid) plague destroyed many of the region’s vineyards. These vineyards remained almost entirely overgrown until the 20th century, when the community began cultivating new vines and recovering traditional varieties. Flash forward to 2017 and these vineyards have produced some of the most successful wines on the market.
AgroMapping is an agronomic consulting company specializing in data analysis, interpretation and consultancy for remote sensing and precision agriculture. The Barcelona Drone Center (BCN) works closely with Roqueta Origen, flying their custom-designed fixed-wing over the vineyard. CATUAV, a UAV integrator, and service provider works with AgroMapping on their agriculture-related ventures.
For vineyards, timing is everything. Flights are normally performed when grapes change color and start accumulating sugars, a period called “veraison” that occurs at the beginning of August in the Mediterranean. When vineyards reach this stage, the canopy is considered to be at full growth and from this point on, reserves will be allocated for fruit ripening rather than for crop development.
Data acquisition starts after a meeting where pilot knowledge, agronomical expertise and viticulturist needs are put together in order to define the best flight plan for producing the highest quality data.
After the flight, imagery is uploaded for data visualization and analysis.
Taking advantage of the high spatial resolution provided by UAV based imagery, AgroMapping classifies the data to produce homogeneous growth zones for each variety. Only vineyard vegetation pixels are included for data classification. This is especially important since different varieties and planting years introduce noise and variability that is not related to crop growth status or stress.
To provide a sound agronomical prescription, the imagery is field-validated by a team of technicians under the leadership of Dr. Fran Garcia-Ruiz, founder of AgroMapping. Only after validation can maps be accepted and/or re-classified to meet the needs of clients and their management thresholds.
Classification is just the start. AgroMapping helps vineyards improve production by also analyzing the seasonal growing conditions, which often involves ground surveying. The ultimate objective is to create management zones from maps with agronomical variables. This is a successful way of providing not only data, but information growers can use. Dr. Garcia-Ruiz envisions such field maps to be used for a number of applications, such as:
The future of this technology will likely focus on defining quality properties to help winemakers replicate specific vintages when possible.
UAV based remote sensing with the MicaSense series RedEdge camera significantly increases the reliability of crop maps produced by AgroMapping. Reliable data facilitates more accurate map interpretation and thus more accurate crop management.
The workflow must always start with determining grower requirements, as this leads to the selection of the appropriate sensor and flight plan. Then, only by working with quality UAVs and sensors that ensure repeatable data, and insightful agronomic consultants who can help turn data into actionable information can this process be successful. Accomplishing this is key to satisfying the high standards of winemakers.
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