The use of thermal imagery in defining frost prone areas in the Niagara fruit belt

Abstract

Surface temperatures in the Niagara fruit belt measured with a thermal scanner flown at altitudes of 600 m, 2000 m and 5000 m, were utilized to examine the feasibility of using thermal imagery to define frost prone zones during spring radiation frost conditions. Results show that, within a test area in the vicinity of Vineland, Ontario, as well as for the entire Niagara escarpment area from Grimsby to Niagara Falls, a number of zones of different temperature are defineable. It was found that a potential frost prone zone exists below the escarpment in an area considered to be relatively free of such events.