Observations from radar scans of grape vines conducted over a growing season

Abstract

A series of S-band radar scans of grape vines conducted over the growing season including post-harvest. From these radar scans two-dimensional mass distributions were obtained and these are presented for two different bays of a Sauvignon Blanc vine. Despite covering the time frame from early development of grape berries to harvest, there is minimal observable change in the 2D mass distributions obtained from the radar scans. Removing foliage obscuring the grape bunches had minimal impact. The mass distributions obtained after harvest were similar to those prior to harvest. These observation along with theory of scattering demonstrate that microwave glare from shoots is the dominant feature in the imagery.