David E. Ebert,* Phillip R. Owens, and Christian E. Butzke
*Purdue University, 465 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47907
(ebertd@purdue.edu)

A visual information environment for effective agricultural management and sustainability (VINES) was applied to commercial winegrape vineyards in California to sustain their appellation-specific grape and wine qualities and yields under both irrigated and dry-farmed conditions. The system was designed to validate, refine, and improve the automatic landform inference mapping (ALIM) soil modeling/sampling method and to define key components for general perennial crop production and winegrapes in particular. The validity of this technology has been tested through analysis of data collected through sensor deployment in North Coast vineyards and through development of highly-resolved, 4-D vineyard maps that visualize soil composition, vine water availability, vine nutrient status, and subsequently, grape maturity and juice composition. A comparison of predicted map-based water flow at several depths and locations against in-field, sensor-sampled values was conducted. The accuracy of predicted soil characteristics across vineyard blocks at several locations was validated based on physical and chemical analyses and statistical comparisons. The first completed, real-time spatial soil functional maps were used to design visual analytics to create an effective decision-making environment applicable in commercial vineyards. Working directly with vineyard managers and winemakers, this integrated research and extension project collaboratively developed an interactive, user-driven decision-making environment that employs visual analytics to organize all inputs from soil sensors, high-resolution spatial soil function, and water dynamic responses, while integrating available historic and current data flows. VINES is designed to integrate future soil, plant, viticulture, and enological models into its decision support system to help respond to changing climatic conditions, particularly drought, and to improve general vineyard management, harvest scheduling, and long-term sustainability and life cycle decisions.

Funding Support: National Science Foundation