Remote Sensing (Oct 2018)
Using Time Series of High-Resolution Planet Satellite Images to Monitor Grapevine Stem Water Potential in Commercial Vineyards
Abstract
Spectral-based vegetation indices (VI) have been shown to be good proxies of grapevine stem water potential (Ψstem), assisting in irrigation decision-making for commercial vineyards. However, VI-Ψstem correlations are mostly reported at the leaf or canopy scales, using proximal canopy-based sensors or very-high-spatial resolution images derived from sensors mounted on small airplanes or drones. Here, for the first time, we take advantage of high-spatial resolution (3-m) near-daily images acquired from Planet’s nano-satellite constellation to derive VI-Ψstem correlations at the vineyard scale. Weekly Ψstem was measured along the growing season of 2017 in six vines each in 81 commercial vineyards and in 60 pairs of grapevines in a 2.4 ha experimental vineyard in Israel. The Clip application programming interface (API), provided by Planet, and the Google Earth Engine platform were used to derive spatially continuous time series of four VIs—GNDVI, NDVI, EVI and SAVI—in the 82 vineyards. Results show that per-week multivariable linear models using variables extracted from VI time series successfully tracked spatial variations in Ψstem across the experimental vineyard (Pearson’s-r = 0.45–0.84; N = 60). A simple linear regression model enabled monitoring seasonal changes in Ψstem along the growing season in the vineyard (r = 0.80–0.82). Planet VIs and seasonal Ψstem data from the 82 vineyards were used to derive a ‘global’ model for in-season monitoring of Ψstem at the vineyard-level (r = 0.78; RMSE = 18.5%; N = 970). The ‘global’ model, which requires only a few VI variables extracted from Planet images, may be used for real-time weekly assessment of Ψstem in Mediterranean vineyards, substantially improving the efficiency of conventional in-field monitoring efforts.
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