New methods and technologies to describe the environment in terroir studies

The concept of terroir in viticulture deals with the influence of environmental factors on vine behaviour and grape ripening. Recent advances in technology, in particular computer technology, allow a more in-depth study of the environment. Geomorphology can be studied with digital Elevation Models (DEM). Soils can be surveyed with geophysics. The development of automatic weather stations allows more dense registration of climatic parameters like temperature and rainfall. Solar radiation can be remotely sensed with satellites and rainfall with radar. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow combining various sources of spatialized environmental factors. The development of high throughput indicators of grapevine development, vine water status and vine nitrogen status allows spatialized validation of vine responses to environmental factors.