Assessing spatial and temporal patterns of grapevine vigor and yield using satellite remote sensing

Understanding spatial and temporal patterns in grapevine growth is crucial for optimizing vineyard management and improving yield and quality. This study evaluated the use of satellite remote sensing to assess spatial and temporal patterns in grapevine vigor and yield in a commercial vineyard in Terry County, Texas. Grapevine vigor was evaluated using measurements of cane length, cane diameter, and pruning weight. Yield and yield components were assessed as grape yield, clusters per vine, cluster weight, and berry weight. Using vegetation indices (VIs) derived from high-resolution PlanetScope (3 m) and moderate-resolution Sentinel-2 (10 m) satellite imagery, we assessed the spatial and temporal variability in vine vigor. The results showed significant variability in grapevine vigor, with high vigor showing greater cane length, pruning weight, and clusters per vine. The spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed significant positive clustering for cane length, pruning weight, and clusters per vine, indicating distinct spatial patterns of vine vigor within the vineyard. In contrast, cane diameter, cluster weight, grape yield, and berry weight showed weak spatial autocorrelation, suggesting minimal spatial dependence across the vineyard. Pruning weight showed the most significant relationship with grape yield, reflecting its role as an integrative indicator of vine growth. Both PlanetScope and Sentinel-2 VIs captured similar phenological patterns and spatial and temporal dynamics of grapevines. However, PlanetScope’s high spatial resolution provides greater sensitivity to subtle variability across the vineyard. Both NDVI and EVI showed comparable performance at distinguishing spatial and temporal differences among vine vigor zones, making them more effective at detecting spatial and temporal vine vigor variability during mid-to-late seasons than during early seasons. While VIs showed strong correlations with vine vigor traits during the mid-to-late seasons, their correlations with grape yield and yield components were low, indicating the need for precision management to improve vigor uniformity. These findings highlight the potential of integrating satellite-based remote sensing into precision viticulture to enhance vineyard monitoring and promote sustainable grape production.