Evaluation of grapevine irrigation management in Mendoza using temporal series of optical remote sensing images

Abstract

The mitigation of climate change effects over vineyards area represents an important stake for viticulture sustainability. However, it requires a detailed knowledge of the actual level of optimization of the viticultural system in a given place. The evaluation of grapevine water requirements is crucial for the management of water in arid and semi-arid regions as in Mendoza, Argentina. Different approaches involving remote sensing images were recently developed in order to estimate and monitor crop water requirements and optimize irrigation at regional scale. The objective of this analysis is to evaluate grapevine water requirements and to compare irrigation needs and supplies at parcel scale. Two irrigation systems are compared: surface and drip irrigation over 350 ha of vineyards located in Agrelo, Lujan de Cuyo. Optical remote sensing images are used in addition of meteorological data from a weather station installed on the site. Satellite images are composed of 5 Pléiades images, 6 Landsat-8 images (OLI/TIRS) acquired during the 2014-2015 campaign. A ground database was built with irrigation calendar, water amounts supplied, yields, LAI and maturation monitoring. The evapotranspiration estimated with Kc-NDVI will be compared to the reference method (with in-situ single coefficient estimation using ground database and FAO 56 evapotranpiration formula). The results allowed to compare the adequacy of the two irrigation systems as well as the level of water stress maintained. The analysis is performed at a monthly scale taking into account the different phenological stages of the grapevine and the vineyard production objectives.