Separating Components of Evapotranspiration to Improve Efficiency in Vineyard Water Management
Authors: Heitman Joshua L. , Ben-Gal Alon , Sauer Thomas J. , Agam Nurit , Havlin John 
Published: December 2021

Vineyards are found on six of seven continents, producing a crop of high economic value with much historic and cultural significance. Because of the wide range of conditions under which grapes are grown, management approaches are highly varied and must be adapted to local climatic constraints. Research has been conducted in the traditionally prominent grape growing regions of Europe, Australia, and the western USA, but far less information is available to guide production under more extreme growing conditions. The overarching goal of this project was to improve understanding of vineyard water management related to the critical inter-row zone. Experiments were conducted in moist temperate (North Carolina, USA) and arid (Negev, Israel) regions in order to address inter-row water use under high and low water availability conditions. Specific objectives were to: i) calibrate and verify a modeling technique to identify components of evapotranspiration (ET) in temperate and semiarid vineyard systems, ii) evaluate and refine strategies for excess water removal in vineyards for moist temperate regions of the Southeastern USA, and iii) evaluate and refine strategies for water conservation in vineyards for semi-arid regions of Israel. Several new measurement and modeling techniques were adapted and assessed in order to partition ET between favorable transpiration by the grapes and potentially detrimental water use within the vineyard inter-row. A micro Bowen ratio measurement system was developed to quantify ET from inter-rows. The approach was successful at the NC site, providing strong correlation with standard measurement approaches and adding capability for continuous, non-destructive measurement within a relatively small footprint. The environmental conditions in the Negev site were found to limit the applicability of the technique. Technical issues are yet to be solved to make this technique sufficiently robust. The HYDRUS 2D/3D modeling package was also adapted using data obtained in a series of intense field campaigns at the Negev site. The adapted model was able to account for spatial variation in surface boundary conditions, created by diurnal canopy shading, in order to accurately calculate the contribution of interrow evaporation (E) as a component of system ET. Experiments evaluated common practices in the southeastern USA: inter-row cover crops purported to reduce water availability and thereby favorably reduce grapevine vegetative growth; and southern Israel: drip irrigation applied to produce a high value crop with maximum water use efficiency. Results from the NC site indicated that water use by the cover crop contributed a significant portion of vineyard ET (up to 93% in May), but that with ample rainfall typical to the region, cover crop water use did little to limit water availability for the grape vines. A potential consequence, however, was elevated below canopy humidity owing to the increased inter-row evapotranspiration associated with the cover crops. This creates increased potential for fungal disease occurrence, which is a common problem in the region. Analysis from the Negev site reveals that, on average, E accounts for about10% of the total vineyard ET in an isolated dripirrigated vineyard. The proportion of ET contributed by E increased from May until just before harvest in July, which could be explained primarily by changes in weather conditions. While non-productive water loss as E is relatively small, experiments indicate that further improvements in irrigation efficiency may be possible by considering diurnal shading effects on below canopy potential ET. Overall, research provided both scientific and practical outcomes including new measurement and modeling techniques, and new insights for humid and arid vineyard systems. Research techniques developed through the project will be useful for other agricultural systems, and the successful synergistic cooperation amongst the research team offers opportunity for future collaboration.