Quantifying hydropedological properties of terroir at different scales. Implications in vineyard characteristics of three viticultural regions of the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

Hydropedology is a branch of science that studies the spatial and temporal variability of the soil water content, knowledge needed for a proper application of precision agriculture techniques in viticulture. This work aims to quantify at different scales hydropedological properties of viticultural regions with different geological, climatic and cultural characteristics, and it also aims to explore the relationships between these hydropedological properties and the vineyard characteristics within the studied regions. The structure of drainage networks at landscape scale and the heterogeneity of the soil particle size distribution are the hydropedological properties considered for the purpose of this study. The three winegrowing regions are the Região Demarcada do Douro, in Portugal, and the D.O. Arribes and D.O. Campo de Borja, in Spain, involving a total area of 4,144 km2. The datasets for this work are the soil maps of the three regions scale 1/25,000, the digital terrain model, and the spatial database with the characteristics of the vineyards within the study area. Qualitative relationships have been established between landscape attributes, vineyard characteristics and physical soil properties. Results show that quantifying hydropedological properties using complexity measures provides innovative information of terroirs that could have multiple applications in terroir zoning studies.