Wine
“You could even get to the point in
the future where, as in the mining
industry, a lot of stuff would be
robotically driven.”
Prof Tyerman is not alone in thinking
this way. He recently signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
with like-minded researchers at
the University of Melbourne, the
University of Talca in Chile and
Spain’s University of La Rioja to
share technology and ideas and
seek research grants.
Their combined interests range from
the use of drones to hyper-spectral
imaging that can produce massive
amounts of information from what
are essentially overhead
photographs.
“We invested in expensive cameras
that measure the temperature of
the canopy – each pixel is a
measure,” he said.
“Take a picture of a canopy (or
a whole block if on a drone) and you
can tell where the hot spots are, and
that tells you whether leaves are
functioning properly. We have also
used that approach to test the
effect of smoke on vines.”
Prof Tyerman’s personal focus
remains primarily on the potential
of single vine sensors and infrared
techniques, which keep an eye on
a vineyard 24/7 and send data back
to a central computer.
vineyard wherever it is, and you
could see what’s going on, what
needs to be done in terms of spray
regimes or whatever, from the
sensors and the imaging that
you’ve got at your fingertips.
“You don’t often see something out
of the ordinary in a vine unless it’s
exposed to some sort of stress,” he
said. “If we get a heatwave we don’t
sent people out to measure, so you
are missing what’s happening. But
sensors don’t.”
Article republished with approval,
theleadsouthaustralia.com.au
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