| Frequently Asked Questions -What imaging products and services do you offer? • Calibrated NDVI - Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Does VineView only image vineyards? NDVI provides valuable information for all different kinds of crops, not just wine grapes. VineView has provided imaging services to a wide variety of agricultural projects, including almond farms, tomato farms, and tree plantations. Click here to see examples. What should I use NDVI images for? What imaging products and services do you offer? • Crop quality balance What actionable information do NDVI images give me? • Develop farm plan Our customers refer to our images throughout the year. In the winter, many growers develop a farm plan by marking the vineyards based on vigor variations. Fertilizer may be added in weaker areas to improve uniformity. Our customers also use our NDVIs as the basis for developing a cultivation plan. During spring, the aerial images are used to direct mowing and discing. NDVIs can help guide pruning decisions and be correlated with pruning weight ratio. Using color images and vigor maps (NDVI) as guides, soil moisture sampling can be performed (e.g. measuring the amount of water present in the soil using the neutron probe). Our NDVIs also provide guidance for pressure chamber site selection and scouting to obtain information about the vine stress. Additionally, NDVIs can guide sugar sampling, tasting and timing and separation of harvest. How can NDVI help me to improve grape quality and reduce costs? Improve grape quality: Find problem areas quicker and start developing uniformity throughout the vineyard. Save money and time: Work more accurately and precisely AND save labor hours! Our clients say: “We get more work done with less people, because we can use inputs more efficiently.” Save water: Al Wagner of Clos Du Val has reduced water usage by 60% since 2001 using NDVI images and moisture monitoring equipment to modify irrigation. Protect your vineyards from pests and viruses: Guide scouting for fanleaf, bluegreen sharpshooter, phylloxera infestation, etc. Save fertilizer: Perform precise inputs with fertilizer, pesticide and cover crops. Environmental stewardship: Help protect the environment by reducing inputs. What do customers say about VineView’s NDVI images? “I use VineView Imaging for their technical know-how, their responsiveness, their reasonable price, and their image quality. I never worry about the accuracy of their images, and their turn-around time is great. Their flexibility also helps, as I occasionally ask them to run a different kind of analysis, and they always find a way to do it for me. I primarily use the images to guide sampling, target amendments, inform harvest decisions, and track changes over time.” “I recommend VineView to my consulting clients. Melissa and Matt are very helpful, and their product is excellent.” “In order to provide excellent service to our clients, Walsh Vineyards Management spends much of its time focused on finding ways to make better decisions in less time. Communicating with visual tools is always preferred, and the visual tool that we use the more than anything else is VineView Imaging’s NDVIs.” How are NDVI images different from infrared images? Vegetation is bright when viewed in the near-infrared wavelengths. Color infrared images display infrared light in red, and thus highlight areas of vigorous vegetation. Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) is produced by subtracting the red reflectance from the infrared reflectance and then dividing by the sum ((IR-Red)/(IR+Red)). This produces a grayscale image which is then colorized to highlight vigor variations. The NDVI image more clearly maps out differences in vegetation vigor and stress due to variations in chlorophyll content than infrared images. Differences in brightness due to sun angle and shading are minimized in the NDVI. Additionally, effects of soil color are reduced. While NDVI images have many advantages, the infrared image contains more detail and therefore can be useful for counting rows and identifying features such as gravel streaks. Color infrared film (as opposed to scientific digital infrared images) is sensitive to a broad range of visible and infrared light and while it provides good spatial detail, it does not isolate changes in chlorophyll content as accurately as scientific multispectral cameras. What is the difference between calibrated and relative NDVI? • Relative NDVI shows vigor variations relative to the vineyard of interest (lowest to highest vigor within that vineyard). This is useful for identifying patterns and segregating areas for different treatments or harvest. • Calibrated NDVI is produced on a fixed scale and therefore, in addition to the above uses, can be directly compared over time and across different locations. Calibrated NDVI also provides a measure of the scale of variability. Is the vineyard fairly uniform, or are there significant vigor variations? VineView applies calibration methods used by USDA scientists to provide consistent imaging products. Calibration also allows for other types of analyses such as change analysis (comparisons over time) and threshold analysis (comparisons of all vines to the "ideal" vines). What spatial resolutions are available and which is right for me? Spatial resolution refers to the ground area covered by each pixel of the image. While VineView can provide most any resolution, the most common for vineyard management are 0.75 meters per pixel to 1.0 meters per pixel (more detail → less detail). Higher resolutions provide more detail and are generally more expensive. They are a good choice for smaller properties or for those growers requiring greater levels of detail. 0.75m/pixel generally provides enough detail for row counting (depending on row spacing). 1.0m/pixel data are adequate for larger properties. Vineyards larger than 100 acres may benefit from the cost savings of 1.5m/pixel images. While providing less detail, vigor patterns are sometimes easier to see in lower resolution images. What is georeferencing and how will it benefit me? Georeferencing is the process of mapping aerial images to geographic coordinates on the ground. Georeferenced images may be overlaid with other geographic information such as ranch maps, orthophoto base maps, sample locations or soil maps using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Georeferenced images may also be delivered in Google Earth format in which case they can be opened directly in Google Earth, which makes an impressive presentation tool. If you do not plan to use the images within a GIS or Google Earth, georeferencing is not necessary. Images can be delivered in a variety of formats. Our most popular method is via download from the VineView server. Once the images are ready, you will be notified and provided with a password. You may then login and download your images. Additionally, images can be delivered on a CD and glossy prints can be provided as well. When is it best to have the images taken? The timing of image acquisition depends on the product and planned uses. NDVI images taken around veraison are most often used to make irrigation decisions and plan harvest. Customers often look at images taken just prior to harvest when vines are at peak stress as well. Visible color images taken in late spring can help determine drainage patterns and soil variations. How do I place an order and what information do you need from me? Information about property locations can be provided in a variety of formats. Shapefiles created using a GPS are ideal, but we can also locate properties using Google Earth outlines, parcel numbers (APNs) or street addresses accompanied by a ranch map. In addition to location, we need to know what product(s) you would like, the vineyard acres of each property, and the preferred resolution. In the near future, we plan to implement an online ordering system whereby customers can go to our website, find and outline their property on an interactive map, query available image dates and order the images for download. VineView prices most imaging by the vineyard acre. Prices generally range from $7.50 to $16.00 per acre, depending on the product and resolution. We do have a minimum charge of 40 acres per location. Discounts are available for multiple properties and large vineyards. For an accurate quote, please provide us with vineyard location, planted acreage and desired product and resolution. • Consistent, high spatial-resolution images
|