Pixel watering of wine grapes in California: Proof-of-concept testing of a modular variable rate irrigation prototype Luis Sanchez, InfoAg July 28, 2015
Variable vineyards Plant Available Water Colony 13 Petite Sirah
How can we manage vineyard variability? Through Precision Viticulture: Management to optimize vineyard performance Responding to field variability Maximizing grape yield and quality Minimizing environmental footprint
Precision Viticulture Variable rate irrigation Sensor-driven systems in potted plants (and vines?) Center pivot systems in grain crops Management zones in wine grapes Australia (McClymont et al. 2012; Proffitt and Pearce 2004) Spain (Bellvert et al. 2012; Martínez-Casasnovas et al. 2009) California
Zonal Irrigation Soil 1 Soil 2
Zonal Irrigation Irrigation management zone 1 Irrigation management zone 1 VF PUMP
Zonal Irrigation Irrigation management zone 1 Irrigation management zone 1 Soil 3 VF PUMP
Modular Irrigation Soil 1 Soil 2 Soil 3
Modular Irrigation Soil 1 Soil 2 Soil 3 VF PUMP
Modular Irrigation Soil 1 Soil 2 Soil 3 VF PUMP
Modular Irrigation Soil 1 Soil 2 Soil 3 VF PUMP
Modular Irrigation Wine Program A Wine Program B VF PUMP
Variable Rate Irrigation Study Objective: Develop and operate a proof-of-concept VRI system prototype and validate it by: Decreasing vineyard variability Optimizing fruit yield and quality Increasing water use efficiency
Experiment location Colony Ranch, Wilton CA
2012 yield map Colony 2A Cabernet Sauvignon Wilton, California 31.5 acres 5 x 11 feet 17-year old Teleki 5C Hand-pruned Drip-irrigated San Joaquin silt loam (~ 75%) San Joaquin-Galt complex (~ 25%) 500 mm (20 ) annual rainfall Highly variable 2012 Yield tons per acre 12 Block area: 31.5 acres VRI & CI: 10.0 acres Field average: 9.17 tons/acre 9 6 3
Field layout Landsat data 2012 Yield tons per acre 12 Block area: 31.5 acres VRI & CI: 10.0 acres Field average: 9.17 tons/acre 9 6 3 30 meter Variable Rate Irrigation VRI Conventional Irrigation CI 140 Irrigation Zones
General layout 5 DL 4 DL 5 DL 4 DL 5 DL 4 DL Node-Solenoid, Check Valve, Tee Flow meter Flushing solenoid valve 5 DL 4 DL 5 DL Sub-main Valves 4 DL 5 DL 4 DL 5 DL 4 DL Variable Flow Pump
System design solenoid valve check valve emitters Tubing, 0.69 ID 4 emitters Check valve 2 Power loc tee 2 Solenoid valve Power loc adapter emitters
System design
Control board 480 VAC Power distribution box Control box UPS box Cell Antenna 115 VAC Lightning arrestor 12 VDC to 14 subnets Communications to South and North
Irrigation scheduling METRIC (Mapping evapotranspiration at high resolution and internalized calibration) ET residual of surface energy balance Rn + LE + G + H = 0 Inputs Landsat (visible & infrared) CIMIS weather data Outputs ETc Kc (f/ndvi) Watering of each zone: ETc = ETref * Kc * Km Rn H G LE
2013 irrigation management 2012 yield tons/acre (average = 8.9) # of irrigation zones Irrigation management factor May 4 weeks June 4 weeks July - Oct 16 weeks < 8.9 76 1.2 0.5 0.7 > 8.9 64 no irrigation 0.5 0.7
2014 irrigation management # of irrigation zones Irrigation management factor May 4 weeks June 4 weeks July - Oct 16 weeks 140 0.0-0.7 0.5 0.8 0.6 1.0
VRI Yield - Normalized 2012 Yield: Mean = 8.9 t/ac 6.1 12.4 t/ac Range = 6.3 2013 Yield: Mean = 7.7 t/ac 6.3 8.9 t/ac Range = 2.6 2014 Yield: Mean = 10.2 t/ac 6.2 14.0 t/ac Range = 7.8
CI Yield - Normalized 2012 Yield: Mean = 8.9 t/ac 6.4 10.9 t/ac Range = 4.5 2013 Yield: Mean = 7.41 t/ac 5.8 10.7 t/ac Range = 4.9 2014 Yield: Mean = 8.7 t/ac 6.1 14.3 t/ac Range = 8.2
20 9 50 7 59 41 69 80 52 16 26 11 1 5 53 83 55 54 23 4 3 124 39 38 47 100 71 81 78 88 73 131 75 111 84 122 85 108 129 118 103 113 104 133 117 115 135 Conv Scheduled Water (hours/year) 2013 applied water 700 600 Variable rate average Conventional average Scheduled 2013 Variable Rate and Conventional Irrigation Areas 500 400 300 200 100 Water Use Efficiency Variable Rate = 17.2 kg/mm Conventional = 15.1 kg/mm 0 Irrigation Zone
37 36 17 7 35 49 55 41 59 51 19 43 53 22 20 14 91 92 13 2 47 38 28 140 77 64 78 61 71 87 30 84 96 95 99 132 101 102 123 110 108 125 105 115 130 117 129 CI Scheduled Water (hours/year) 2014 applied water 700 600 Variable rate average Conventional average Scheduled 2014 Variable Rate and Conventional Irrigation Areas 500 400 300 200 100 Water Use Efficiency Variable Rate = 22.7 kg/mm Conventional = 21.9 kg/mm 0 Irrigation Zone
Non-spatial statistics Irrigation Variable rate Conventional Yield class Leaf Area Index clusters per vine cluster weight (g) berry weight (g) high 6.0 a 147.7 a 76.0 a 0.9 ab medium 5.3 a 127.7 a 84.7 a 0.8 b low 5.2 a 127.7 a 71.6 a 0.7 c high 6.1 a 151.6 a 81.9 a 1.0 a medium 6.1 a 155.6 a 75.7 a 0.8 b low 6.1 a 130.2 a 66.1 a 0.7 bc Different letters are significantly different at p<0.05
Conclusions Successful modular variable rate irrigation system prototype implementation Precise manipulation of vineyard variability Maintaining high water use efficiency
Next steps Continue testing prototype until year 5 Second generation system underway Multiple vineyards Other permanent crops Commercial level system Cost effectiveness
Next steps B6 B5 A6 B4 A5 Controllers B1-B6 valves and water meter A1-A6 valves and water meter B1 B2 A1 B3 A2 A3 A4 Solar panel charged battery
Acknowledgments E&J Gallo Winery Viticulture Lab: Brent Sams, Maegan Salinas, Erin Troxell, Shijian Zhuang, Nona Ebisuda Chemistry: Hui Chong, Bruce Pan, Natalia Loscos Research Winery: David Santino, Bianca Wiens, Steven Kukesh GIS-CE: Martin Mendez, Andrew Morgan Nick Dokoozlian IBM (TJ Watson Lab & Data Center Services) TJ Watson Lab, NY: Levente Klein, Nigel Hinds, Hendrik Hamann Data Services, CA: Alan Claassen, David Lew James Taylor, New Castle University, UK Ernie and Jeff Dosio, Pacific Agrilands Scott Britten and Associates, Bennett & Bennett
Thank you!
GQI Yield (tons/hectare) Fruit Yield and Quality 25 20 VRI CI 15 10 5 0 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 a a a b a b a 2012 2013 2014 VRI CI a a a a 2012 2013 2014 b
GQI 2014 Leafing study LV / NL = Low vigor, No Leafing 75 Colony 2A Cabernet Sauvignon 70 65 60 55 50 LV / NL HV / NL HV / L LAI HV / L = High vigor, Leafing HV / NL = High vigor, No Leafing
Non-spatial statistics VRI CI CV Spread CV Spread 2012 0.14 0.71 0.12 0.50 2013 0.07 0.33 0.12 0.68 2014 0.17 0.76 0.15 0.93 CV = STDEV/MEAN SPREAD = RANGE/MEDIAN
Spatial statistics 1. MCD, Mean Correlation Distance 2. Cambardella Index Measures of spatial dependence and structure Variable Rate Irrigation: Decreased spatial structure in 2013 Increased spatial structure in 2014
Hectares Mapped 2012 320 Yield Monitor Yield 2013 Mapping 1,600 2014 4,800