2019 journal article
Upscaling Evapotranspiration with Parsimonious Models in a North Carolina Vineyard
AGRONOMY-BASEL, 9(3).
author keywords: crop water stress index; enhanced vegetation index; Landsat; land surface temperature; remote sensing; tall fescue; Vitis vinifera
open access via www.mdpi.com (publisher PDF)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
(Web of Science; OpenAlex)
13. Climate Action
(Web of Science)
14. Life Below Water
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: April 29, 2019
Water stress can positively or negatively impact grape yield and yield quality, and there is a need for wine growers to accurately regulate water use. In a four-year study (2010–2013), energy balance fluxes were measured with an eddy-covariance (EC) system in a North Carolina vineyard (Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay), and evapotranspiration (ET) and the Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) calculated. A multiple linear regression model was developed to upscale ET using air temperature (Ta), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and Landsat-derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). Daily ET reached values of up to 7.7 mm day−1, and the annual ET was 752 ± 59 mm, as measured with the EC system. The grapevine CWSI was between 0.53–0.85, which indicated moderate water stress levels. Median vineyard EVI was between 0.22 and 0.72, and the EVI range (max–min) within the vineyard was 0.18. The empirical models explained 75%–84% of the variation in ET, and all parameters had a positive linear relationship to ET. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) was 0.52–0.62 mm. This study presents easily applicable approaches to analyzing water dynamics and ET. This may help wine growers to cost-effectively quantify water use in vineyards.