Vineyard Management

esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 35

Precision VineyardManagement fromSpace– From Bacchus to Eneide

Precision VineyardManagement fromSpace– From Bacchus to Eneide

I n a highly competitive global market such as the wine business, consistent quality is a must,especially if Europe wants to maintain its position as world leader. It currently accounts for

55% of the world’s vine-growing areas, 60% of wine production and 70% of exports.

In this very special sector of agriculture, technology and science play fundamental roles in allphases of activity, from the start of the vine-growing season, through the ripening of the grapes,to the bottling of the wine. The quality of the wine produced depends on many parameters,including the soil characteristics in the area, the weather and growth conditions during the season,the ability to monitor and control vine diseases, the degree of maturity of the grapes at harvesttime, their grade, colour, organic acids, etc. during fermentation and, finally, the wine productiontechniques employed. In general, however, European vineyard managers still have little access totechnical means or reliable systems to guide them in their decision-making.

Simonetta Cheli & Luigi FuscoESA/ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Stefano SandrelliOsservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Milan, Italy

ESA/ESRIN lies in the middle of the Frascati DOC wine-growingregion, southeast of Rome. The right-hand image is an ERS multi-temporal satellite image of the Rome and Castelli Romani region.The second image is from an INTA aircraft multi-special-imagingoverflight of the Frascati vineyard area (ESRIN entrance andsurrounding vineyards) conducted in 2004, with 50 cm resolution

Precision Farming in the Frascati areaSpace technologies, particularly those associated with Earth Observation (EO), can helpthe wine-growing community in a number of technical areas. One of several initiativespromoting the use of EO in the wine sector has been ‘Bacchus’, a Research andTechnological Development project started in 2003 (to be completed in 2005), funded bythe European Community through its Fifth Framework Programme. The project is led bya consortium representing SMEs, institutes, public agencies and regulatory organisationsfrom the main wine-producing regions of Spain, Italy, France and Portugal (seehttp://www.bacchus-project.com).

Fusco 9/13/05 10:51 AM Page 34

Vineyard Management

esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 35

Precision VineyardManagement fromSpace– From Bacchus to Eneide

Precision VineyardManagement fromSpace– From Bacchus to Eneide

I n a highly competitive global market such as the wine business, consistent quality is a must,especially if Europe wants to maintain its position as world leader. It currently accounts for

55% of the world’s vine-growing areas, 60% of wine production and 70% of exports.

In this very special sector of agriculture, technology and science play fundamental roles in allphases of activity, from the start of the vine-growing season, through the ripening of the grapes,to the bottling of the wine. The quality of the wine produced depends on many parameters,including the soil characteristics in the area, the weather and growth conditions during the season,the ability to monitor and control vine diseases, the degree of maturity of the grapes at harvesttime, their grade, colour, organic acids, etc. during fermentation and, finally, the wine productiontechniques employed. In general, however, European vineyard managers still have little access totechnical means or reliable systems to guide them in their decision-making.

Simonetta Cheli & Luigi FuscoESA/ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Stefano SandrelliOsservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Milan, Italy

ESA/ESRIN lies in the middle of the Frascati DOC wine-growingregion, southeast of Rome. The right-hand image is an ERS multi-temporal satellite image of the Rome and Castelli Romani region.The second image is from an INTA aircraft multi-special-imagingoverflight of the Frascati vineyard area (ESRIN entrance andsurrounding vineyards) conducted in 2004, with 50 cm resolution

Precision Farming in the Frascati areaSpace technologies, particularly those associated with Earth Observation (EO), can helpthe wine-growing community in a number of technical areas. One of several initiativespromoting the use of EO in the wine sector has been ‘Bacchus’, a Research andTechnological Development project started in 2003 (to be completed in 2005), funded bythe European Community through its Fifth Framework Programme. The project is led bya consortium representing SMEs, institutes, public agencies and regulatory organisationsfrom the main wine-producing regions of Spain, Italy, France and Portugal (seehttp://www.bacchus-project.com).

Fusco 9/13/05 10:51 AM Page 34

esa bulletin 123 - august 2005www.esa.int 37

This space-based assessment is in linewith the changes defined in the landregister for the Frascati DOC production.

The friendly spirit of cooperationbetween ESA/ESRIN, the local scientificinstitutions (in particular the University ofTor Vergata and the Consiglio Nazionaledella Ricerca, Istituto Scienze Atmosfera eClima) and the local authorities (inparticular the Municipality of Frascati), allof whom have an interest in understandingand monitoring the evolution of theenvironment in this part of the world, hasallowed a unique multidisciplinary know-ledge base concerning farming in theFrascati area to be established. Integrationof this knowledge into the enlarged Bacchusproject partnership has led to the generationof very high-quality land-managementinformation systems specifically tailoredfor the Frascati DOC area.

Results for the Frascati Test SiteThe Bacchus project has taken

advantage of recent progress in EO andICT technologies, including:– The availability of very-high-resolution

imagery from space: IKONOS (since2000) and QuickBird (since 2002) havebeen providing data with 80 cm and 60cm resolution, respectively. Europeanmissions with similar capabilities, alsoat radar frequencies, will soon becomeavailable (e.g. Pleiades and CosmoSkymed) and be able to support winemanagement applications.

– Good progress in web technology,especially for the handling of mappingservices as part of the Open GISconsortium standardisation effort andthe European INSPIRE initiative: theavailability of web-GIS technology willmake the dedicated geomatic servicesaccessible via the Internet.

– Wireless communication: Significantprogress has been made in theintegration of wireless communication,for example to collect groundmeasurements or provide information

Vineyard Management

36 esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 www.esa.int

Bacchus’s goal has been to demonstrateto regional vineyard regulatory bodies,vine quality-control bodies and wineproducers how a comprehensive space-based solution can meet their informationneeds. Such a solution relies on theintegration of very-high-resolutionremote-sensing data gathered from spacewith other more traditional informationavailable, for instance, in GeographicalInformation Systems (GISs). This Bacchusproject environment has been used as areference infrastructure for:– defining new data-handling methods for

improving current methodologies forvine area location, land parcelidentification, and vineyard inventorymaking

– generating new land-managementreference maps and experimenting withdedicated models for vineyardmanagement.

Test sites in the participating countrieshave been selected for the trialing of pilotsystem(s) and for demonstrating thepotential of this integrated approach toseveral interested parties in the winebusiness. In particular, the Frascati DOC

(Denomination of Controlled Origin) wineregion was been selected as one of the twoItalian Bacchus test sites.

ESA’s ESRIN establishment happens tolie right in the middlle of this importantwine region southeast of Rome, which ispartially in the volcanic Castelli Romaniarea. Since the start of the EarthnetProgramme at the end of the 1970s, theEarth Observation team at ESRIN has hadroutine access to imagery from Landsat,ERS, Envisat and several other high-

resolution EO missions. It has thereforeaccumulated a large archive of EO dataand related information on the Frascatiarea, mainly to verify the quality of theESRIN-generated EO products. Such datainclude a high-quality digital elevationmodel, for documenting the changes inlocal land use and environmentalparameters over time. By using historicalLandsat Thematic Mapper datasets, forexample, it was possible in 1996 to assessthe urban pressure of the city of Rome onthe Frascati DOC area over the previous 10years.

Comparison with the classificationperformed using images taken in 1996shows that:

Earth Observation

Assessment of the urban pressure exerted by Rome’s growth onthe Frascati DOC area: red = anthropic areas, green = potentialvineyard area, as classified using a Landsat-4 TM dataset in 1986

Composite of IRS (5 m resolution) and Quick Bird (0.61 mpanchromatic, 2.4 m multi-spectal) satellite imagery covering theFrascati area. The yellow line identifies the boundaries of thecommunity participating in the Frascati DOC region; the greenlines delineate the Frascati DOC vineyards, and the blue lines thebuilt-up areas in the region

Urban in ‘86: 14.59% in ‘96: 15.70% delta: +1.11%Vineyard in ‘86: 38.00% in ‘96: 35.45% delta: -2.55%Other: in ‘86: 47.40% in ‘96: 48.85% delta: +1.45%

Examples of the geo-/bio-morphological andclimatological information handled by theFrascati DOC Land Information ManagementSystem developed within the Bacchus project(courtesy of F. Comandini, CTDF and B. Rapi,CNR-IBIMET)

(a) Pedological map, integrating land use,terrain properties and geo-climate parameters

(b) Wine-growing suitability map for the Frascatiregion integrating various geo-morphologicaldata and local climate information

(c) Estimate of 2004 grape production per vinein the Frascati DOC region for the area coveredby the INTA overflight

a

b

c

Urbanizzato º Centro Paese= Strada PrincipaleVigneto

Altro

Fusco 9/13/05 10:51 AM Page 36

esa bulletin 123 - august 2005www.esa.int 37

This space-based assessment is in linewith the changes defined in the landregister for the Frascati DOC production.

The friendly spirit of cooperationbetween ESA/ESRIN, the local scientificinstitutions (in particular the University ofTor Vergata and the Consiglio Nazionaledella Ricerca, Istituto Scienze Atmosfera eClima) and the local authorities (inparticular the Municipality of Frascati), allof whom have an interest in understandingand monitoring the evolution of theenvironment in this part of the world, hasallowed a unique multidisciplinary know-ledge base concerning farming in theFrascati area to be established. Integrationof this knowledge into the enlarged Bacchusproject partnership has led to the generationof very high-quality land-managementinformation systems specifically tailoredfor the Frascati DOC area.

Results for the Frascati Test SiteThe Bacchus project has taken

advantage of recent progress in EO andICT technologies, including:– The availability of very-high-resolution

imagery from space: IKONOS (since2000) and QuickBird (since 2002) havebeen providing data with 80 cm and 60cm resolution, respectively. Europeanmissions with similar capabilities, alsoat radar frequencies, will soon becomeavailable (e.g. Pleiades and CosmoSkymed) and be able to support winemanagement applications.

– Good progress in web technology,especially for the handling of mappingservices as part of the Open GISconsortium standardisation effort andthe European INSPIRE initiative: theavailability of web-GIS technology willmake the dedicated geomatic servicesaccessible via the Internet.

– Wireless communication: Significantprogress has been made in theintegration of wireless communication,for example to collect groundmeasurements or provide information

Vineyard Management

36 esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 www.esa.int

Bacchus’s goal has been to demonstrateto regional vineyard regulatory bodies,vine quality-control bodies and wineproducers how a comprehensive space-based solution can meet their informationneeds. Such a solution relies on theintegration of very-high-resolutionremote-sensing data gathered from spacewith other more traditional informationavailable, for instance, in GeographicalInformation Systems (GISs). This Bacchusproject environment has been used as areference infrastructure for:– defining new data-handling methods for

improving current methodologies forvine area location, land parcelidentification, and vineyard inventorymaking

– generating new land-managementreference maps and experimenting withdedicated models for vineyardmanagement.

Test sites in the participating countrieshave been selected for the trialing of pilotsystem(s) and for demonstrating thepotential of this integrated approach toseveral interested parties in the winebusiness. In particular, the Frascati DOC

(Denomination of Controlled Origin) wineregion was been selected as one of the twoItalian Bacchus test sites.

ESA’s ESRIN establishment happens tolie right in the middlle of this importantwine region southeast of Rome, which ispartially in the volcanic Castelli Romaniarea. Since the start of the EarthnetProgramme at the end of the 1970s, theEarth Observation team at ESRIN has hadroutine access to imagery from Landsat,ERS, Envisat and several other high-

resolution EO missions. It has thereforeaccumulated a large archive of EO dataand related information on the Frascatiarea, mainly to verify the quality of theESRIN-generated EO products. Such datainclude a high-quality digital elevationmodel, for documenting the changes inlocal land use and environmentalparameters over time. By using historicalLandsat Thematic Mapper datasets, forexample, it was possible in 1996 to assessthe urban pressure of the city of Rome onthe Frascati DOC area over the previous 10years.

Comparison with the classificationperformed using images taken in 1996shows that:

Earth Observation

Assessment of the urban pressure exerted by Rome’s growth onthe Frascati DOC area: red = anthropic areas, green = potentialvineyard area, as classified using a Landsat-4 TM dataset in 1986

Composite of IRS (5 m resolution) and Quick Bird (0.61 mpanchromatic, 2.4 m multi-spectal) satellite imagery covering theFrascati area. The yellow line identifies the boundaries of thecommunity participating in the Frascati DOC region; the greenlines delineate the Frascati DOC vineyards, and the blue lines thebuilt-up areas in the region

Urban in ‘86: 14.59% in ‘96: 15.70% delta: +1.11%Vineyard in ‘86: 38.00% in ‘96: 35.45% delta: -2.55%Other: in ‘86: 47.40% in ‘96: 48.85% delta: +1.45%

Examples of the geo-/bio-morphological andclimatological information handled by theFrascati DOC Land Information ManagementSystem developed within the Bacchus project(courtesy of F. Comandini, CTDF and B. Rapi,CNR-IBIMET)

(a) Pedological map, integrating land use,terrain properties and geo-climate parameters

(b) Wine-growing suitability map for the Frascatiregion integrating various geo-morphologicaldata and local climate information

(c) Estimate of 2004 grape production per vinein the Frascati DOC region for the area coveredby the INTA overflight

a

b

c

Urbanizzato º Centro Paese= Strada PrincipaleVigneto

Altro

Fusco 9/13/05 10:51 AM Page 36

esa bulletin 123 - august 2005www.esa.int 39

ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori. Anexperiment known as VINO (Vines in NearOrbits) was therefore rapidly prepared andfinanced by Kayser Italia, the vineyardassociations of Tuscany, and the provincialauthorities of Livorno. The Soyuz mission,named ENEIDE, was launched on 15 April2005 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome andduring his eight-day stay on the ISSRoberto Vittori conducted a programme of21 experiments, including VINO.

VINO was the first attempt to study thegrowth and development of grape-vinecuttings in space. A few samples of rootedcuttings of Sassicaia, a high-quality grapevariety grown at Tenuta San Guido inBolgheri, in the Livorno area, were graftedand taken up to the Space Station. It wasthe first time that such a complex plant hadbeen studied in space. Whilst in orbit, thesamples were left to grow at ambienttemperature inside a sealed container, toprevent possible bacterial contamination.Once back on Earth, the rooted Sassicaiacuttings were analysed to gauge what kindsof stresses they had undergone.

Fluid circulation was one of the mostinteresting aspects of the analyses, sincethe rooted cuttings were grafted and thenutrient fluids therefore had to deal withtwo different types of wood. The vineshave since been replanted and in thecoming weeks we will see how healthythey are and start to evaluate the effect oftheir trip into space on their reproductionand growth capabilities. When the plantsare ready to bear grapes next season, moreanalyses will be performed …

The Wine Community Meets Space Tech-nologyDuring his stay in space, Roberto Vittoriparticipated by audio link in a novelworkshop titled ‘Space for Wine’, organisedby ESA/ESRIN in collaboration with themunicipality of Frascati, the Strada dei Vinidei Castelli Romani (Wine Itinerary of theRoman Castles) and the Consorzio di TutelaDenominazione Frascati (Consortium forthe protection of the Frascati designation oforigin). The workshop was open to local,regional and national institutions and thoseinvolved in the wine business. The goal wasto explain how the application of spacetechnology and associated sciences couldhelp the wine-growing community, and theESA astronaut gave the participants a briefoverview of the VINO experiment and itsaims. The workshop presentations areavailable at:http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMXD7NQS7E_Italy_0.html

The Effect of Global Change on Wine-Growing RegionsAs already noted, climate change in the

form of global warming can have negative aswell as positive effects on vine-growingareas, with the most damaging impactsexpected to occur in today’s top wine-producing regions. A new WWF studyechoes several other recent reports insuggesting that the Earth will warm by 2degC (3.6 degF) above pre-industrial levelsbetween 2026 and 2060, unless major stepsare taken to reduce greenhouse-gasemissions. The need to change cultivars tocope with such climate changes could spelleconomic disaster for the Chianti orChardonnay vineyards, but also for theFrascati DOC area.

On the other hand, two of the ‘Space forWine’ presentations highlighted potentialbenefits:– A. Castagnoli discussed how the

influence of global change couldrepresent an opportunity for some wineregions to use presently marginal areasfor the production of higher qualitywines in the future.

– M. Severini discussed how the vintageratings of the Frascati DOC wine haveincreased over the last 20 years, showinghow this may be correlated with adecrease in the number of frostsexperienced per year in the Frascatiregion.

Another related issue is the earliermaturation of the grape crops in the yearsto come. On the basis of local long-termmeteorological measurements, it isestimated that in 2050 the Frascati grapeswill ripen about three weeks earlier thantoday. As regards the effect of atemperature increase on the evolution ofinsects, which may in turn affect qualitygrape production, the conclusion frommodelling is that, fortunately, it will beminor, since the estimated warming is notsufficient to enable these insects tocomplete the fourth reproduction cyclebefore grape maturity.

The Future of Vineyard Management The various vineyard-management applic-ations of Earth Observation data gatheredfrom space which were presented at the‘Space for Wine’ workshop clearlydemonstrate the potential of spacemonitoring solutions for this highlyspecialised agricultural domain, at thelocal, regional, national and Europeanlevel. This view was strongly confirmed bythe representatives of the variousinstitutions - Ministry of Agriculture,Regione Lazio and the wine sector - whoparticipated in this unique workshop. Thewine sector has clearly-identifiedoperational requirements, and candefinitely benefit from the recent andfuture environmental initiatives atEuropean level, such as the GMES (GlobalMonitoring for Environment and Security)programme.

AcknowledgementThe authors wish to thank all of theparticipants in the ‘Space for Wine’workshop, and especially those whose datahave been used in the preparation of thisarticle. r

Vineyard Management

38 esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 www.esa.int

via portable devices. Vineyard managersview this technology with interest forsupporting the wine traceability chain.

During the Bacchus project a number ofdedicated tools have also been developedfor:– EO image data and GIS management, by

the Spanish partner GEOSYS, toprovide a friendly PC-based, end-userenvironment

– specific vineyard area high-resolutionimage classification and featureextraction, by the French partnerCEMAGREF

– vineyard land analysis and management,by the Italian partner CNR-IBIMET. Itprovides models for vineyard areamanagement and land-use potential forsingle vineyard parcels in terms of vinevigour, production potential andpotential product quality.

Accurate knowledge of the local weatherand climatic characteristics are of majorimportance for top wine-producing areas.The climate can have positive effects in

that, for example, less frost may increasewine production, but also dramatic impactsin that it may also affect the annual timingof the main stages in grapevinedevelopment (bud break, flowering,veraison, maturation) or change therelationship between the vines and theirparasites.

The hyperspectral view (18 bands and18 m resolution) provided by the CHRISinstrument on ESA’s Proba satellite,launched in October 2001, has thepotential to yield additional information onvineyard 'phenology' - the link betweengrape health and ripening and localclimate. This information can helpsignificantly in adjusting viticulture andwine production to the potential climatechanges that are believed to be on the way.

A few CHRIS images have already beenacquired over the Frascati area for theBacchus project. Co-registration of theimages to a common geometry has provedto work satisfactorily and the new imageryhas already been integrated into theBacchus system.

ERS and Envisat radar imagery allowsthe ready retrieval of key informationabout observed vineyards, such as grapequality and surface parameters. Thechronology of the cultivation practices ineach vineyard can also be derived, which isa basis for gathering precise informationabout conditions within the land parcels inquestion.

In a side-study to Bacchus, carried outfor a final-year dissertation at the Univ-ersity Tor Vergata, ERS-Envisat synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) imagery wascorrelated with very-high-resolutionQuickBird optical images to survey theapproximately 1800 hectares of theFrascati DOC area. The integration of theSAR data into Bacchus has allowed theretrieval of radar scattering information forindividual vineyard parcels. The study hasshown that SAR data may also be usefulfor monitoring the development andripening of the grapes, with a consistentlysharp increase in backscattering detectedduring ploughing and harrowing in Marchand April. Strong correlations have alsobeen observed between SAR back-scattering and the quantity of the grapesproduced in a number of the parcelsmonitored.

The Eneide Mission and the VINO Experiment Given that wine production can be studiedfrom space, Valfredo Zolesi, Chairman ofKayser Italia SpA, began to think about thepossibility of studying the behaviour ofgrapes directly in space. After all, hethought, the vine has been regardedhistorically as a companion to man, witharchaeologists believing that wine-makingcan be traced all the way back to 5600 BC,and it would therefore be fascinating tothink of vines now accompanying men andwomen on their space exploration travelstoo.

Such an opportunity was provided by theSoyuz 10S flight to the International SpaceStation (ISS), which included the Italian

Earth Observation

A Proba CHRIS image frame covering the Frascati DOC test area,supporting study of the phenology of the grape in the region bythe University of Tor Vergata, CNR-ISAC and ESA/ESRIN). Theblack areas are all the vineyard parcels belonging to the FrascatiDOC region

The box that housed the vines for the VINO experiment on theENEIDE mission

Fusco 9/13/05 10:52 AM Page 38

esa bulletin 123 - august 2005www.esa.int 39

ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori. Anexperiment known as VINO (Vines in NearOrbits) was therefore rapidly prepared andfinanced by Kayser Italia, the vineyardassociations of Tuscany, and the provincialauthorities of Livorno. The Soyuz mission,named ENEIDE, was launched on 15 April2005 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome andduring his eight-day stay on the ISSRoberto Vittori conducted a programme of21 experiments, including VINO.

VINO was the first attempt to study thegrowth and development of grape-vinecuttings in space. A few samples of rootedcuttings of Sassicaia, a high-quality grapevariety grown at Tenuta San Guido inBolgheri, in the Livorno area, were graftedand taken up to the Space Station. It wasthe first time that such a complex plant hadbeen studied in space. Whilst in orbit, thesamples were left to grow at ambienttemperature inside a sealed container, toprevent possible bacterial contamination.Once back on Earth, the rooted Sassicaiacuttings were analysed to gauge what kindsof stresses they had undergone.

Fluid circulation was one of the mostinteresting aspects of the analyses, sincethe rooted cuttings were grafted and thenutrient fluids therefore had to deal withtwo different types of wood. The vineshave since been replanted and in thecoming weeks we will see how healthythey are and start to evaluate the effect oftheir trip into space on their reproductionand growth capabilities. When the plantsare ready to bear grapes next season, moreanalyses will be performed …

The Wine Community Meets Space Tech-nologyDuring his stay in space, Roberto Vittoriparticipated by audio link in a novelworkshop titled ‘Space for Wine’, organisedby ESA/ESRIN in collaboration with themunicipality of Frascati, the Strada dei Vinidei Castelli Romani (Wine Itinerary of theRoman Castles) and the Consorzio di TutelaDenominazione Frascati (Consortium forthe protection of the Frascati designation oforigin). The workshop was open to local,regional and national institutions and thoseinvolved in the wine business. The goal wasto explain how the application of spacetechnology and associated sciences couldhelp the wine-growing community, and theESA astronaut gave the participants a briefoverview of the VINO experiment and itsaims. The workshop presentations areavailable at:http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMXD7NQS7E_Italy_0.html

The Effect of Global Change on Wine-Growing RegionsAs already noted, climate change in the

form of global warming can have negative aswell as positive effects on vine-growingareas, with the most damaging impactsexpected to occur in today’s top wine-producing regions. A new WWF studyechoes several other recent reports insuggesting that the Earth will warm by 2degC (3.6 degF) above pre-industrial levelsbetween 2026 and 2060, unless major stepsare taken to reduce greenhouse-gasemissions. The need to change cultivars tocope with such climate changes could spelleconomic disaster for the Chianti orChardonnay vineyards, but also for theFrascati DOC area.

On the other hand, two of the ‘Space forWine’ presentations highlighted potentialbenefits:– A. Castagnoli discussed how the

influence of global change couldrepresent an opportunity for some wineregions to use presently marginal areasfor the production of higher qualitywines in the future.

– M. Severini discussed how the vintageratings of the Frascati DOC wine haveincreased over the last 20 years, showinghow this may be correlated with adecrease in the number of frostsexperienced per year in the Frascatiregion.

Another related issue is the earliermaturation of the grape crops in the yearsto come. On the basis of local long-termmeteorological measurements, it isestimated that in 2050 the Frascati grapeswill ripen about three weeks earlier thantoday. As regards the effect of atemperature increase on the evolution ofinsects, which may in turn affect qualitygrape production, the conclusion frommodelling is that, fortunately, it will beminor, since the estimated warming is notsufficient to enable these insects tocomplete the fourth reproduction cyclebefore grape maturity.

The Future of Vineyard Management The various vineyard-management applic-ations of Earth Observation data gatheredfrom space which were presented at the‘Space for Wine’ workshop clearlydemonstrate the potential of spacemonitoring solutions for this highlyspecialised agricultural domain, at thelocal, regional, national and Europeanlevel. This view was strongly confirmed bythe representatives of the variousinstitutions - Ministry of Agriculture,Regione Lazio and the wine sector - whoparticipated in this unique workshop. Thewine sector has clearly-identifiedoperational requirements, and candefinitely benefit from the recent andfuture environmental initiatives atEuropean level, such as the GMES (GlobalMonitoring for Environment and Security)programme.

AcknowledgementThe authors wish to thank all of theparticipants in the ‘Space for Wine’workshop, and especially those whose datahave been used in the preparation of thisarticle. r

Vineyard Management

38 esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 www.esa.int

via portable devices. Vineyard managersview this technology with interest forsupporting the wine traceability chain.

During the Bacchus project a number ofdedicated tools have also been developedfor:– EO image data and GIS management, by

the Spanish partner GEOSYS, toprovide a friendly PC-based, end-userenvironment

– specific vineyard area high-resolutionimage classification and featureextraction, by the French partnerCEMAGREF

– vineyard land analysis and management,by the Italian partner CNR-IBIMET. Itprovides models for vineyard areamanagement and land-use potential forsingle vineyard parcels in terms of vinevigour, production potential andpotential product quality.

Accurate knowledge of the local weatherand climatic characteristics are of majorimportance for top wine-producing areas.The climate can have positive effects in

that, for example, less frost may increasewine production, but also dramatic impactsin that it may also affect the annual timingof the main stages in grapevinedevelopment (bud break, flowering,veraison, maturation) or change therelationship between the vines and theirparasites.

The hyperspectral view (18 bands and18 m resolution) provided by the CHRISinstrument on ESA’s Proba satellite,launched in October 2001, has thepotential to yield additional information onvineyard 'phenology' - the link betweengrape health and ripening and localclimate. This information can helpsignificantly in adjusting viticulture andwine production to the potential climatechanges that are believed to be on the way.

A few CHRIS images have already beenacquired over the Frascati area for theBacchus project. Co-registration of theimages to a common geometry has provedto work satisfactorily and the new imageryhas already been integrated into theBacchus system.

ERS and Envisat radar imagery allowsthe ready retrieval of key informationabout observed vineyards, such as grapequality and surface parameters. Thechronology of the cultivation practices ineach vineyard can also be derived, which isa basis for gathering precise informationabout conditions within the land parcels inquestion.

In a side-study to Bacchus, carried outfor a final-year dissertation at the Univ-ersity Tor Vergata, ERS-Envisat synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) imagery wascorrelated with very-high-resolutionQuickBird optical images to survey theapproximately 1800 hectares of theFrascati DOC area. The integration of theSAR data into Bacchus has allowed theretrieval of radar scattering information forindividual vineyard parcels. The study hasshown that SAR data may also be usefulfor monitoring the development andripening of the grapes, with a consistentlysharp increase in backscattering detectedduring ploughing and harrowing in Marchand April. Strong correlations have alsobeen observed between SAR back-scattering and the quantity of the grapesproduced in a number of the parcelsmonitored.

The Eneide Mission and the VINO Experiment Given that wine production can be studiedfrom space, Valfredo Zolesi, Chairman ofKayser Italia SpA, began to think about thepossibility of studying the behaviour ofgrapes directly in space. After all, hethought, the vine has been regardedhistorically as a companion to man, witharchaeologists believing that wine-makingcan be traced all the way back to 5600 BC,and it would therefore be fascinating tothink of vines now accompanying men andwomen on their space exploration travelstoo.

Such an opportunity was provided by theSoyuz 10S flight to the International SpaceStation (ISS), which included the Italian

Earth Observation

A Proba CHRIS image frame covering the Frascati DOC test area,supporting study of the phenology of the grape in the region bythe University of Tor Vergata, CNR-ISAC and ESA/ESRIN). Theblack areas are all the vineyard parcels belonging to the FrascatiDOC region

The box that housed the vines for the VINO experiment on theENEIDE mission

Fusco 9/13/05 10:52 AM Page 38