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Within-season temporal variation in correlations between vineyard canopy and winegrape composition and yield

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Abstract

Remote optical imaging can rapidly acquire information describing spatial variability in vineyard block performance. Canopy characteristics were derived from very high spatial resolution (0.25 m) optical imagery of a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard acquired at various canopy growth stages. Within-season changes to correlation coefficients between vineyard canopy and ultimate composition and yield of harvested fruit were then investigated. Canopy area and density were observed to have significant relationships with yield and fruit quality indicators including berry size, anthocyanins and total phenolic content, but less significant relationships with total soluble solids. The strength and type of correlation varied with canopy growth stage. For anthocyanins and total phenolic content, correlations varied from non-significant before flowering to negative after flowering. For berry weight and yield, correlations varied from negative before flowering to positive after flowering. For total soluble solids, there were some significant relationships but no clear temporal pattern. The results confirm that remote sensing is a useful tool to determine spatial variability in fruit composition and yield. However, both the timing of image acquisition and the way in which canopy is quantified are important determinants of the direction and strength of correlations with fruit composition and yield.

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Abbreviations

CA:

Grapevine canopy area

CD:

Grapevine canopy density

NDVI:

Normalised difference vegetation index

PAB:

Photosynthetically active biomass

r :

Coefficient of correlation

r 2 :

Coefficient of determination

TSS:

Total soluble solids

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Wine Growing Futures Program, a joint initiative of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and the National Wine & Grape Industry Centre. The authors appreciate ongoing support provided by Charles Sturt University’s Spatial Data Analysis Network.

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Correspondence to Andrew Hall.

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Hall, A., Lamb, D.W., Holzapfel, B.P. et al. Within-season temporal variation in correlations between vineyard canopy and winegrape composition and yield. Precision Agric 12, 103–117 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-010-9159-4

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