While many people enjoy gazing at the galaxies while sipping a glass of Cabernet on their back porch, very few know that in fact space technology is being used to help make better wine. Vintners in France are using satellite imagery to improve their grape harvests, adding space-age technology to the quintessentially French art of winemaking.
Remote sensing shows variations in soil and crop conditions in a single vineyard plot. Photo courtesy of Infoterra.
According to Agence France-Presse, the Oenoview system – initially developed to help grain producers – combines satellite pictures from the air and vine analysis on the ground to allow oenologists to track the progress of their crop and determine when grapes are ready to harvest.
Its infrared imagery shows winegrowers how much water is in the fruit and how much to prune. Winemakers say Oenoview is already helping them refine and mastermind their harvests in such a way as to increase yields and make a better product.
A collaboration between France’s wine and vine institute and the satellite imagery firm Infoterra, Oenoview uses infrared images from the Taiwanese satellite Formosat 2 to discover new land suitable for planting vines, and links between the amount of vegetation on the vine and the quality of the grape.
Makes a perfect Sauvignon Blanc even more enjoyable, don’t you think?
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Space 2.0 companies | Tagged: 8th Continent Project, aerospace industry, Business, Oenoview, remote, remote sensing, satellite, space technology, wine
