Proceedings of GiESCO 2019

Vine diseases have a strong impact on vineyards sustainability, which in turns leads to strong economic consequences. Among those diseases, Flavescence dorée spreads quickly and is incurable, which led in France to the setup of a mandatory pest control implying the systematic use of pesticides and the prospection and uprooting of every infected plants. Remote sensing could be a very powerful tool to optimize prospection as it allows to produce quickly accurate maps over large areas. Recent studies have shown that high spatial resolution (10cm/pixel) multispectral images acquired from UAVs allow to map Flavescence dorée in vineyards using leaves discolorations [e.g. Albetis et al., Remote Sensing, 2017].

Estimation of vineyard leaf area index (LAI) is an important aspect for the winegrowers. However, tracking and monitoring are difficult tasks due to time constraints. Satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging have become a practical monitoring method for LAI. Nevertheless, for a proper LAI determination, the image’s spatial resolution is a key factor, since low-resolution images are incapable of distinguishing between adjacent vines due to the large area covered in each pixel, this leads to misinterpretation or generalisation of vineyard information.

The aromatic perception is one of the main factors that influence the
consumer when determining the wine’s quality and acceptance. Numerous factors (soil, climate,
winemaking style, cultivar) can influence the volatile compounds. Some of these compounds are released directly from the grape berries while others are formed during the fermentation and aging processes. However, little is known about the quality and aromatic formation of Syrah variety in the winter cycle cultivated in São Paulo.