Determining soil moisture regimes for viticultural zoning purposes

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the suitability of Soil Taxonomy to characterize the soil moisture regime for viticultural zoning studies, comparing the soil moisture parameters used in the Soil Taxonomy classification with soil moisture parameters relevant to the grapevine phenological stages. The results show that Soil Taxonomy does not adequately reflect the variability of soil moisture dynamics during vineyard growing. Then, a proposal for soil moisture regime classification is realised by means of a cluster analysis. This classification is based on determining dry days, as indicated by Soil Taxonomy, in different vine phenological periods, and grouping the cases according to their variability. The soil moisture regime classes, resulting from cluster analysis, show significant differences in soil moisture status in all phenological periods, and therefore present different implications for viticulture, related to potential for vegetative growth, grape production and the grape ripening process.