Processing Data
We would like to develop a predictive model and computer program to account for variables influencing tension in the trellis wire so that the trellis tension monitor can become a viable tool for the grape industry to monitor vineyards and to estimate yields.
Data Collection:
In our experiments we use research-grade dataloggers to scan the signals from the load cells every 10 seconds.
The datalogger computes and stores an average value every 15 minutes. Because 90 of the 10-second readings are combined for the average, environmental influences like wind gusts do not affect the final value.
However, other effects must be accounted for after we download the 15-minute values. We call this effort "post-processing."
Data Post-Processing Sequence:
• Account for the effect of wire temperature on wire tension.
Why?—steel wire stretches and contracts as temperature rises and falls every day
• Apply calibration factor
Why?—each spring we hang known weight from the wire to calculate the change in wire tension for every unit of weight on the wire. This pre-budbreak "baseline" tension is subtracted from the current value to determine the change in trellis tension created by the vine this season.
Yield Estimation Sequence:
• Compare the "post-processed" or final, corrected values of wire tension (or change in wire tension during the season) with those from previous years.
• Adjust the ratio between today's tension value and the previous years' tension value by the previous years' actual yields to estimate this year's harvest weight (meaning this year's yield estimate).
Advantage of the Trellis-Tension Monitor for estimating yield:
• Because the tension data are nearly continuous, the grower, processor or winery can make frequent adjustments to the crop estimate as the season progresses.
This flexibility would have been beneficial in 2005, particulary in California, where the berries "sized up" (enlarged) rapidly during the ripening period, resulting in a serious underestimation of the crop that was ultimately delivered to the processors' and wineries' doors.
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