Spatial interpolation-based mapping of the spring frost hazard in the Champagne vineyards

Abstract

The Champagne vineyards, famous worldwide, are located at the northern limit of viticulture. Consequently, they are very sensitive to spring frosts that can occur after bud burst. These spring frosts occur mainly in radiative atmospheric situations (low speed wind, clear sky) where spatial variations in minimum temperatures are very important. The latter depend on several factors at different scales: from the macroclimatic scale, where the geographical location (latitude/longitude) has a strong influence, to the topoclimatic scale, where environmental and topographical factors play an important role. After a brief recall of the definition of these different factors extracted from a Digital Elevation Model and a land-use database, we propose a spatial interpolation of minimum temperatures in the Champagne vineyards based on multiple regression. From this interpolation, we can map the frost hazard for the whole vineyard from data measured over five spring seasons (1998-2003) and for about 20 weather stations. In this paper, we present this mapping technique and compare it with the data for spring 2003 when particularly strong frosts occurred.