Liquid Geography: The Geography of Vine and Wine - Precision Viticulture Research
Background & Context
I first gained an interest in Vineyards, Grape Growing and Viticulture as a teenager from my father who was the ADAS Horticultural Advisor for Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely in the UK. In the mid-1970s, vineyard plantings became popular in the UK, and my father was responsible for advising and the setting up of four (4) vineyards: in Gamlingay (Bedfordshire); Cottenham (Cambs), Little Eversden (Cambs), and at Linton (Cambs).
All of these were small hobby/business vineyards established and bank-rolled by wealthy retired businessmen, the most famous being Sam Alper (Caravans International (CI)) at Linton. Although grapes had been grown on and off over time in the UK, the 1970s saw a major revival of the English Wine industry, and the establishment of the English Vineyards Association (EVA).
One summer I was fortunate to help manage the two vineyards owned by Tom Lisher (Call Printing Group Cambridge) in Little Eversden and Cottenham, which saw me pruning and planting vines, hoeing and rotovating the soil all during a very hot summer. For my troubles I got to drive a Range Rover all summer! Tom was perhaps the first person to attract my attention to remote sensing because his printing company printed some of the Remote Sensing Society (RSS) publications in the UK: I still have the copy he gave to me!
My interest in the English wine industry steadily grew and later as a graduate student in Canada, I undertook my first GIS Mapping project for the English Vineyards Association producing the English VIneyards Association DataBase (EVADB) using SAS/GRAPH software.
From here my interest in viticulture developed, spending alot of time in the Niagara Escarpment grape growing region, looking into the use of model aircraft for remote sensing of vineyards, thermal remote sensing of vineyards, and the monitoring mapping and modelling of grapevine canopies to look into the role mathematical modelling of plant canopies could play in extracting information from remotely sensed imagery (inversion models) and vice-versa. At this time I also learned alot about setting up vineyard microclimate measurements. I later joined the Association of Amercian Geographers (AAG) Wine Specialty Group and spent many years presenting papers on my work to them and the annual AAG Conference. This culminated in contributing a chapter to a book on the Geography of Wine.
I have since continued my interest in vineyards and viticulture through focusing on Precision Viticulture (PV), with research into the role drones and UAVs can play in vineyard management, in the UK and internationally, as well as their use on early detection of fruit-fly infestations. I have had a couple of short research studies funded by Santander, been involved in a number of international viticulture conferences, as well as continuing to collect aerial data in vineyards at Linton and in Cornwall.
Much of this work has found its way into my undergraduate module - Liquid Geography - The Geography of Vine and Wine - which I continue to teach each year and expand, as well as examining PhD dissertations in Precision Viticulture.
I am currently working with Professor Andrew Reynolds in Canada on an International Volume on Precision Viticulture for CRC Press/Taylor and Francis/
Research Studies
I have had two Santander Awards from the University of Aberdeen to undertake research visits concerning Precision Viticulture.
Download Santander Presentations here.
Publications and Links
Links
- Drones Helping the Wine Industry: Click Here
- How Satellites Put Better Wine in Your Glass: Click Here
- Innovation and Wine in the UK: Click Here
- The Digital Grape: Click Here
Book Chapters
- UAVs to Monitor, Map and Model a Vineyard: Click Here
- Geospatial Tools and Techniques for Vineyard Management: Click Here
Papers
- Monitoring, Mapping and Modelling the Vine and the Vineyard: [Download PDF]
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