Viticulture under climate change: A case study on a water scarcity model

Abstract

Changes in climatic patterns hinder the prediction of water availability, being imperative to develop new strategies to optimise water management in the agricultural sector. A multi-sensor network is being developed by ADVID/CoLAB VINES&WINES and University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), aiming to determine water stress in vineyards, as a Decision Support System (DSS) for winegrowers. Remote wireless data transmission through LoRaWAN technology, will allow the development of a Machine Learning based model for water stress mapping. Measured parameters include soil, plant, and atmosphere data, given the importance of soil-plant-atmosphere continnum when evaluating water status. The pilot is installed in a commercial vineyard in the Douro Demarcated Region (DDR), and different sensor’s modules were distributed spatially in the parcel. Lower cost and higher range than WiFi or Bluetooth, LoRaWAN are especially important for applications in remote areas, where mobile networks have little coverage, allowing to benefit a larger number of producers. While overcoming the constraints of the current monitoring method (Scholander pressure bomb), this system will allow remote and continuous water monitoring, assisting the producer in decision making. Altogether, this solution will contribute to better management of water resources, as well to the sustainability and competitiveness of farms.