Early stress detection in grapevine – can remotely-sensed sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence do the job?
<p>Ongoing changes in climate (both in the means and the extremes) are increasingly challenging grapevine production in the province of South Tyrol (Italy). Here we ask the question whether sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) observed remotely from space can detect early warning signs of stress in grapevine and thus help guide mitigation measures.</p><p>Chlorophyll fluorescence refers to light absorbed by chlorophyll molecules that is re-emitted in the red to far-red wavelength region. Previous research at leaf and canopy scale indicated that SIF correlates with the plant photosynthetic uptake of carbon dioxide as it competes for the same energy pool.</p><p>To address this question, we use time series of two down-scaled SIF products (GOME-2 and OCO-2, 2007/14-2018) as well as the original OCO-2 data (2014-2019). As a benchmark, we use several vegetation indices related to canopy greenness, as well as a novel near-infrared radiation-based vegetation index (2000-2019). Meteorological data fields are used to explore possible weather-related causes for observed deviations in remote sensing data. Regional DOC grapevine census data (2000-2019) are used as a reference for the analyses.</p>