Moral, F.J.; Rebollo, F.J.; Serrano, J. Using a Non-Contact Sensor to Delineate Management Zones in Vineyards and Validation with the Rasch Model. Sensors2023, 23, 9183.
Moral, F.J.; Rebollo, F.J.; Serrano, J. Using a Non-Contact Sensor to Delineate Management Zones in Vineyards and Validation with the Rasch Model. Sensors 2023, 23, 9183.
Moral, F.J.; Rebollo, F.J.; Serrano, J. Using a Non-Contact Sensor to Delineate Management Zones in Vineyards and Validation with the Rasch Model. Sensors2023, 23, 9183.
Moral, F.J.; Rebollo, F.J.; Serrano, J. Using a Non-Contact Sensor to Delineate Management Zones in Vineyards and Validation with the Rasch Model. Sensors 2023, 23, 9183.
Abstract
The production of high-quality wines is one of the primary goals of modern oenology. In this regard, it is known that the potential quality of a wine begins to be determined in the vineyard, where the quality of the grape, initially, and later that of the wine, will be influenced by the soil properties. Given the spatial variability of the fundamental soil properties related to the potential grape production, such as texture, soil organic matter content, or cation exchange capacity, it seems that a uniform management of a vineyard is not the most optimal way to achieve higher grape quality. In this sense, the delineation of zones with similar soil characteristics to implement site-specific management is essential, reinforcing the interest to incorporate technologies and methods to determine these homogeneous zones.
A case study was conducted in a 3.3 ha vineyard located near Évora, South of Portugal. A non-contact sensor (DUALEM 1S) was used to measure soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) in the vineyard, and later, a kriged ECa map was generated. ECa and elevation maps were utilised to delineate homogeneous zones (management zones, MZs) in the field through a clustering process. MZs were validated using some soil properties (texture, pH, organic matter -OM, phosphorous -P2O5, potassium -K2O, sum of the exchange bases -SEB; and cation exchange capacity -CEC) which were determined from 20 soil samples taken in the different MZs. Additionally, validation was also performed using Rasch measures, which were defined based on the formula-tion of the objective and probabilistic Rasch model, integrating the information from the afore-mentioned soil properties at each sampling location. The comparison of the MZs was more evident with the use of the Rasch model, as only one value was to be employed in each MZ.
The use of ECa constitutes an efficient technological tool for implementing site-specific man-agement in viticulture, which allows for the improvement of decision-making processes by con-sidering the inherent spatial variability of the soil.
Copyright:
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