Interactions with the Physical Environment Flashcards
What is the definition of Climate provided from lecture?
Climate is a combination of all meteorological phenomena characterizing the atmosphere of a given point on the Earth’s surface. It is generally determined over a 30 year period.
What are the 4 types (think sizes) of climates
- Macroclimate (NW Italy)
- Mesoclimate or local climate (Colli Piacentini)
- Microclimate (small area, single vineyard)
- Bunch microclimate (Can be scaled down to a single plant)
What are the 6 main climactic variables
- Temperature
- Sunlight Radiation (intensity and hours of sunshine)
- Rainfall
- Wind
- Hail
- Relative Humidity
What are bioclamactic Indices and what are two examples
Bioclimactic Indices are indicators of the climactic potential in a given area
- Winkler Index
- Huglin Index
What are two types of Cold Injuries
- Minimum Winter temperature (grapevine vitality is affected when T is less than -10/-15 C)
- Spring and late season frost (Generally more dangerous because the grapevine is already or still growing i.e. not dormant)
3 Main aspects of the biology of cold injuries
- Water freezing in the inter-cellular spaces (cell death, mechanical action of ice crystals)
- Tissue disorganization
- Precipitation of cytoplasmic proteins
What is normally done to suckler shoots? Does it matter the type of climate that the grower is in?
Usually you would want to cut suckler shoots, due to competition but in colder climates growers usually keep one so that in times of severe frost and cold temperatures they can regrow the vine via the suckler. The pruning of the sucklers is called the suckling
Two types of heat transfer methods
- Advection (Wind)
- Radiation (sun)
Discuss Thermal inversion
Thermal inversion is when the temperature increases as elevation decreases, however at a certain point before reaching the ground the temperature decreases again. This is usually in valleys in which cool air pools at the bottom of hill. This is why planting vineyards on a valley floor can be problematic. Planting on a slope within the area of a thermal belt (highest temp) with cold air drainage can be the best!
Two types of cold prevention methods
- Passive
- Active
What are the 3 types of Passive prevention of cold injuries
- Site Selection
- Selection of grapevine varieties with a delayed growing cycle allowing to naturally escape frost events
- Adoption of specific management with canopy growing higher than the frost belt
What are 3 active control strategies
- Mixing air (wind machines, helicopters)
- Generating heat (Heaters)
- Overvine sprinklers
Why is variation in bunch temperature important and what can be done?
Bunch temperature can be important for the health of the bunch, aspect is incredibly important for this and depending where you plant and the aspect of the slope as well as aspect of the rows, bunches that have east exposures may be cooler than west or visa versa
When is hail the worst for grapevines
Closer to harvest
What are 2 negatives of using nets
- They can slightly seduce air circulation
- They can negatively affect photosynthesis
What are 4 important considerations for Rainfall and what is the average of what a vineyard might need in a year?
- Annual rainfall
- Intensity
- Seasonal Variation
- Interactions with soil
250-300 mm/year
Importance of wind: what are three things that decrease with higher winds and what are two important concepts to remember about winds on a grapevine
- Shoot Length
- Leaf area
- Stomata density
Without air circulation we can have too high humidity
and
Conversely Wind can make the area drier and the plants VPD or Vapor Pressure Demand can increase
What are the 6 Main climactic factors?
- Latitude and Longitude
- Elevation
- Aspect
- Slope
- Distance to bodies of water
- Distance to forests
Elevation can balance and mitigate the effects related to …
Latitude
Discuss the three things that vineyard aspect can change and talk about which aspects are best for which climates
- Radiation
- Temperature
- RH (relative Humidity)
South to West aspects could be great for cooler climates, but problematic for warmer climates
Describe the role of bodies of water
Bodies of water can mitigate temperature by decreasing annual Max Temp and increasing Min Temp in winter
What is the affect of slope and vineyard aspect on radiation
Discuss the North to south scale
as well as what we do for flat vineyards
The higher the slope the higher the interception of radiation
High Slope facing South Lower Flat
for grapes like Cab Sauv, Nebbiolo
N—————————————————————————–S
Higher slope facing North
for grapes like pinot noir, chard Lower Flat
For flat vineyards we change the row orientation
