Wine Production Regions Research Articles

Global climate matching: Satellite imagery as a tool for mapping vineyard suitability

Climate is the principal driver in determining both vineyard location and the type of wine produced at a global scale. Satellite imagery has a long history of application in climate monitoring, modelling and prediction. The processing of temporal sequences of such imagery reveals valuable seasonal information at a fine spatial scale. However, this rich source of spatial and temporal climate information has yet to be exploited by the wine producing industry. Here, the potential of large-scale satellite imagery is outlined and illustrated by developing an approach to identify potential future vineyard locations. Satellite imagery processed to extract seasonal information is initially tested in its capacity to map accurately existing wine production regions. It is then utilised to locate potential new regions through finding and matching areas of similar climate to already well established regions. Results reveal great potential in global satellite imagery to provide cost-effective, accurate means of new vineyard location. The extension of the approach to regional-scale mapping and the study of global warming effects is also described.

Activated sludge plant facing grape harvest period – a case study

Most of municipal activated sludge plants located in wine production regions receive winery wastewaters during the grape harvest period which lasts usually only a few weeks. A drastic increase in organic pollution (COD, BOD) during this period generates a temporary overloading, resulting very often in biological problems such as decreased sludge settleability, sludge floc disintegration, increased SS concentration in treated effluent and in the worst case a complete plant failure. In order to work satisfactorily even during those temporary overloading periods, the plant has to be oversized. This strategy is rather costly, because such a plant has to run below its nominal capacity during a major part of the year. An original solution has been proposed and successfully tested at a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Eguisheim, France. The proposed technique is based on the addition of a mineral material with a low particle size, whose presence positively influences the physical behaviour of the sludge and will allow the nominal capacity of the plant to be surpassed without any important modification. The modification of the sludge structure around the added powdered material improved significantly the sludge settleability (DSVI< 160 ml/g) and enabled the plant to treat organic pollution several times higher than the nominal level.

Activated sludge plant facing grape harvest period — A case study

Most of municipal activated sludge plants located in wine production regions receive winery wastewaters during the grape harvest period which lasts usually only a few weeks. A drastic increase in organic pollution (COD, BOD) during this period generates a temporary overloading, resulting very often in biological problems such as decreased sludge settleability, sludge floc disintegration, increased SS concentration in treated effluent and in the worst case a complete plant failure. In order to work satisfactorily even during those temporary overloading periods, the plant has to be oversized. This strategy is rather costly, because such a plant has to run below its nominal capacity during a major part of the year. An original solution has been proposed and successfully tested at a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Eguisheim, France. The proposed technique is based on the addition of a mineral material with a low particle size, whose presence positively influences the physical behaviour of the sludge and will allow the nominal capacity of the plant to be surpassed without any important modification. The modification of the sludge structure around the added powdered material improved significantly the sludge settleability (DSVI < 160 ml/g) and enabled the plant to treat organic pollution several times higher than the nominal level.