Digitization for automation–A frost management case study

Abstract

The need to mitigate the yield impact of Spring frosts in vineyards remains a significant challenge around the world. A warming climate is being offset by changes in phenology, in this case budbreak timing. In 2024 alone, cold temperature impacts have been highlighted across a range of countries, including Australia, Germany, France, Austria, France and Canada. Accurately predicting the areas of a vineyard most vulnerable to frost requires site-specific knowledge, historic and real-time sensor data. A smart weather forecast is also needed which distinguishes between cold temperature events when mitigating actions will be more or less effective. Are we anticipating a radiative frost or an advective frost? What effect will leaf wetness have? How wet is the ground to start with and how will this affect local temperature changes? How is the forecast performing against measurements in the vineyard? Frost management is just one of many examples where the importance of vineyard digitization and automation are emphasized. Effective deployment of resources is important both in terms of economics and environmental protection and requires the integration of data from multiple sources to support decision-making. Ultimately, autonomous management systems rely upon a precision approach based on timely and accurate data and comprehensive mapping. Such data-driven solutions depend on heterogeneous information from a wide range of systems, requiring a strong degree of integration and standardisation. Our paper addresses how we are tackling this challenge of data fragmentation and interoperability in the vineyard, summarising learning from our Frost Management and VISTA (Vineyard Information System for Technology and Automation) collaborative projects. Having established much of the infra-structure, we will present results at the conference from our Spring 2025 intensive in southern England, generating actionable insights for growers.