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Many studies show that grapevines develop differently, depending on their growing area. This phenomenon is shown by the different growth behaviour of the plant. Historical price developments in individual wine-growing areas have led to precisely delimited cultivation sites, down to the smallest sites, forming a pedoclimatic unit, which is identified with the term “terroir”or “climat” or simply “vineyard site”. Often a clearly defined and recognizable wine type is attributed to these units. All over the world, great importance in grape cultivation is given to the grapes’ growth habitat and intensive research of the connections between growing area and wine quality is conducted. In this context it must be considered, that the concept of “terroir” (“climat”, vineyard site) comprises all other viticultural measures which - in part of necessity - shape the cultivation of a particular location. Especially in pedoclimatically heterogeneous areas, like for example South Tyrol, it is a great challenge to recognize and evaluate the site-specific effects due to a multitude of variables. Some exemplary site studies illustrate the impact of the vineyard location on the wine quality. The significance of soil characteristics, geographical situation and microclimate conditions is demonstrated. Possible correlations between individual site characteristics and the types of sensory characteristics are presented and the vintage effect relating to the site-specific effect is defined. The site-specific effect is reflected in the wine quality, which means wines of one grape variety produced in different locations, even if they are very close, show different characteristics. Conversely, wines from different and even distant locations, may show some similarities. Generally, the vintage effect is more significant than the site effect. The climatic and geographic parameters, such as sea level, average annual temperature etc., mostly show more incisive effects than the geopedological parameters (pH-value, grain size composition, etc.). In some cases, however, the importance of these variables could be recognized as well. The greatest challenge in pedoclimatically heterogeneous areas, is the grouping of individual sites into a site unit with certain expected wine characteristics and their delimitation. 

Possible site-specific effects on wine quality based on various vineyard sites in a heterogeneous area like South Tyrol

Purpose of this research is to quantitatively assess the mineral component of vineyard soils, with particular attention to the mineralogical analysis of clays, which represent an element of high importance in the vineyard culture as well as in general agriculture. An X-ray diffraction (XRD) / thermogravimetric (TG) multi-technique analytical approach was developed, tested on soil samples taken from vineyards around the world. This codified analytical procedure was necessary to obtain precise qualitative and quantitative mineralogical data, globally comparable to distinguish the geopedological identity of the vineyards. Soil samples from vineyards of various locations were analysed, in very different geological conditions. The bulk-rock quantitative phase analysis (QPA) was obtained by the Rietveld method while the detailed composition of the clay-sized fraction was determined by modelling of the oriented X-ray diffraction patterns. The research provided a precise classification of the mineral component of soils, distinguishing the mineral phases of the clays and the so-called mixed-layer clay minerals. We found that the content in mixed layers can be directly correlated with the water retention and the cation exchange capacity ​​of the soil, while the presence of other clayey minerals and phyllosilicates in this research did not affect this CEC parameter, which codes the fertility level of the soils. The study demonstrates that terroir, in particular soils formed in complex or very different geological conditions, can only be effectively interpreted by properly analysing its mineral phases, in particular the mixed-layer clay component. These are characteristic abiotic ecological indicators, which may have specific eco-physiological influences on the plant.

Vineyards and clay minerals: multi-technique analytical approach and correlations with soil properties

The study of the relationships between the natural characteristics of the environment and the quality of the wine highlights the existence of a specificity. The basic element of the viticultural vocation is the territory, which materializes in a geographical space within which the work of nature and the centuries-old intervention of man have given rise to a food that cannot be produced elsewhere, whose qualitative excellence manifests itself continuously, therefore even in the most difficult years. It is from the interaction between natural and human factors that the peculiarities of wine are born. The high number of different areas dedicated to wine production is to be considered an element of the value of Italian viticulture, together with the great wealth of national varieties. The analysis of the various factors that lead to the qualitative expression of wines has been the subject, in the last twenty years, of numerous scientific studies, which have highlighted in the first instance, i.e. on a fairly large geographical scale, the fundamental contribution that geology and the geomorphology contribute to the peculiarities of the wine-growing areas. These factors contribute to determining the characteristics and qualities of the soil, some of which have a decisive effect on the viticultural and oenological response. In particular, the characteristics that condition water and mineral nutrition, such as water retention capacity, depth and volume that can be explored by the roots, stoniness and colour (mirror of its chemical composition), superficial and deep drainage, richness in active limestone as well as in macro and microelements, they are the basis for the quality of the grapes and the subsequent qualitative expression of the wines. Wine-growing areas located on fissured and karstified limestone rocks, which favour the removal of excess water through deep drainage, often have a high viticultural vocation. Where the parent material is calcareous marl, the soils are generally clayey and silty, retain a good amount of water and give finesse to the wines, while the granites and sandstones produce sands and gravels by alteration, which dry out very easily and contain vigour. Soils on volcanic basalts, rich in nutrients, give an imprint of robustness and fullness to the wines. Soils on alluvial sediments rich in clay are suitable for vigorous vines and wines with character. The best terroirs are rooted in soils where for most years the crop yield is moderate but of good quality, without a massive integration of chemical fertilizers and unsustainable risks for the conservation of soil quality.

Soil functional factors of Italian wines

We experimentally investigate the effect of the grain shape on the flow of granular material. The grain shape is modified to highlight the effect of grain circularity on granular flow in a 2D rotating drum. Using a laser cutter, we create particles with decreasing circularity. We observe that the effect of grain shape depends on the rotation speed of the drum. For high rotation speed, granular flow is influenced by the packing’s dilatancy whereas, at low rotation speed, packing fraction seems to influence flowing dynamics. We link these two measurements to grain shape in order to explain its effect on granular flow.

Effect of grain shape on the dynamics of granular materials in 2D rotating drum

The rhombic sphere packing can be used to model granular soils in a very simple way. According to the angle of assemblage, the packing is dilatant or contractive. Correspondingly, the overall stresses are transmitted as chains of forces or oblique forces of contact. The connection of the soil stress-strain behaviour and the packing void ratio is achieved by mapping both of the plots. The mapping shows that dense soils are dilatant and loose soils are contractive, separated by the critical state. It also shows that the bifurcation point and the peak strength are features of dense soils. The line of strain localization is analysed in the elastic regime, and its inclination is found maximizing the intensity of the mobilized stress ratio. The stresses within the shear band are obtained by assuming a partially coaxial packing rotated for reaching the full plastic state. The equilibrium of the overall stress at the line of discontinuity leads to the relationship between the peak friction angle and the coefficient of lateral pressure at rest. As long as these parameters are independently obtained from each other, they allow the validation of the theory.

A sphere packing model for shear bands in dense soils

Simple geometry and multiple applications such as drying, mixing, segregation, drying, granulation and heat conduction have inspired many researchers from the mechanical, chemical, pharmaceutical and mining engineering fields to study the dynamics of the particle flow inside rotating drums. Therefore, knowledge of the dynamics of particles in a drum is of high interest in engineering such as velocity profiles. Various experimental and numerical studies have been carried out to study the velocity profiles of the particles inside horizontal rotating drums. Little emphasis has been laid on inclined rotating drums, though these drums are extensively used in granular process industries. In this study Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to analyse the effect of angle of inclination of the drum on the particles velocity profile.

Particle velocity profile in an inclined rotating drum

This paper experimentally analyzes the collapse of conical granular columns made out of non-cohesive granular materials. Dimensionless run-out lengths were found, as a function of the aspect ratio a, similar to those occurring in the collapse of cylindrical columns, although in the case of conical columns of high aspect ration, at the end of the collapse, a layer of grains that rotates around the cone axis appears and it affects the final profiles of the mounds.

Collapse of conical granular columns

Acoustic emission (AE) or vibration signal has been applied in detecting operations of grinding mills in many industries. This paper proposes an approach to generate AE signals based on the particle-wall impacts. Through a combination of multi-mode vibrations and the calibration of the key parameters, the model was able to reproduce experimental data. The AE model was then implemented into a discrete element method (DEM) modelling of particle flow in a rotating mill. The AE signals of the mill under different filling levels and rotation speeds were generated and analysed, mainly focusing on the frequency and magnitude of each vibration mode. The link between the AE signals and the particle-wall impact energy was explored

Acoustic signals of rotating drums generated based on DEM simulations

This paper presents a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model on the effect of capillary pressure on the retention behaviour of a granular material. The model proposes an unprecedented CFD insight into the onset of liquid menisci at the inter-particles contact under varying hydraulic conditions. The present work models the material grains as smooth spherical particles that define a porous network filled by two interstitial fluids: air and silicon oil. The numerical model has been subsequently validated against experimental measurements of the degree of saturation at different capillary pressures taken by Dullien et al. [F.A. Dullien, C. Zarcone, I.F. MacDonald, A. Collins, R.D. Bochard. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 127, 2 (1989)] in a system of smooth glass beads flooded with silicon oil. Results from the numerical simulations confirm the good capability of the model to reproduce the experimental retention behaviour of the granular material. Finally, the present paper laid the basis for future CFD studies on the effect of various factors (e.g. hydraulic hysteresis, surface roughness and/or grain shape) on the capillary pressure acting at the inter-particle contact.

CFD modelling of the effect of capillary pressure on retention behaviour of water menisci at inter-particle contacts

Eastern black Walnut (Juglans nigra), endemic to the Eastern US is highly sought after for its timber products and uniquely flavored nuts. The University of Missouri houses a significant Black Walnut repository at the Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center in New Franklin, MO. The cultivars in this repository are used to support a breeding program focused on economic traits related to nut production (nutmeat mass, overall nut quality, precociousness, and yield). In 1996, four ramets of 67 cultivars were each grafted and subsequently planted in an experimental orchard for further evaluation. Beginning in 2001 and ending in 2015, each tree was evaluated for eleven phenological and tens nut quality/yield characteristics. The economically relevant traits nut weight, percent kernel, and precociousness (total nuts produced age 6 to 10) ranged from 8.8 to 43.0 g, 5.3 to 39.3 percent, and 16 to 1522 total nut, respectively. Nut weight and percent kernel were negatively correlated (r=-0.60), while precociousness correlated positively (r=0.38) with percent kernel and negatively (r=-0.32) with nut weight. Preconsciousness also correlated negatively with first (r=-0.39) and last (r=-0.30) pistillate emergence. Furthermore, principal components and biplot analyses revealed high variation of the evaluated cultivars leading to the prioritization of certain breeding parents over others.

Elias Bunting is currently an undergraduate senior in the College of Agriculture Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. Elias’ research interest lies in determining the drivers of genotypic and phenotypic traits in eastern American black walnut. In his research, he has worked to determine how to leverage these traits for improved walnut breeding programs.

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Agricultural Activities: Analyzing the Impact on Climate Change using IT Tools

Strengthening Climate Change Adaptive Capacity Of Rural Women Crop Farmers Through Reduced Social Exclusion In Nigeria

Possible site-specific effects on wine quality based on various vineyard sites in a heterogeneous area like South Tyrol

Vineyards and clay minerals: multi-technique analytical approach and correlations with soil properties

Soil functional factors of Italian wines

Effect of grain shape on the dynamics of granular materials in 2D rotating drum

A sphere packing model for shear bands in dense soils

Particle velocity profile in an inclined rotating drum

Collapse of conical granular columns

Acoustic signals of rotating drums generated based on DEM simulations

CFD modelling of the effect of capillary pressure on retention behaviour of water menisci at inter-particle contacts

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