Lessons learned from the co-development of operational climate forecast services for vineyards management

• Published in: Climate services 2024-12, Vol.36, p.100513, Article 100513
• Main Authors: Pérez-Zanón, N., Agudetse, V., Baulenas, E., Bretonnière, P.A., Delgado-Torres, C., González-Reviriego, N., Manrique-Suñén, A., Nicodemou, A., Olid, M., Palma, Ll, Terrado, M., Basile, B., Carteni, F., Dente, A., Ezquerra, C., Oldani, F., Otero, M., Santos-Alves, F., Torres, M., Valente, J., Soret, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate forecast; Climate services; Co-production; Sustainability; Wine sector
• ISSN: 2405-8807; 2405-8807
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cliser.2024.100513

This study describes the process of co-developing an operational climate forecast service for the viticulture sector. Weather and climate conditions affect grapevine development in cultivars: anticipating the atmospheric variables in the coming weeks and months is thus relevant for effectively managing vineyards, as impacts will be felt in wine production, biodiversity, and a wide range of related aspects. The operational service was co-developed with two types of users: impact modellers, who are the intermediary users incorporating climate forecast outputs in phenological and disease models, and end-users from the wine sector with vineyards in various European locations. For the operational service, sub-seasonal and seasonal climate forecasts were tailored considering their needs. The initial steps of the co-production process identified relevant decisions for which the service was essential and co-defined effective ways to deliver the climate information. Afterwards the climate forecasts outputs were integrated with impact model data. Substantial efforts were directed at the harmonisation of climate services information with the decision-making system of end-users. Because end-users need to navigate, comprehend, and select from various alternative options amidst uncertainty, significant emphasis has been placed on crafting the visual representation of the climate service, incorporating interactive elements, and cognitive considerations, thereby enhancing the overall user experience. Weather and climate conditions affect the development of cultivars: phenological stages, disease risk, or wine quality. This study presents the co-production process for deploying a climate service for vineyard management. The service consists of the near-real-time operational provision of sub-seasonal and seasonal climate forecasts. This service aims to help vineyard managers make decisions by anticipating the climate conditions up to three months in advance for a set of essential climate variables. The service includes the requirements of a set of intermediary users, which are disease risk and phenology researchers who feed their impact models with the provided climate forecasts. To our knowledge, it is the first time that sub-seasonal and seasonal climate forecasts have been integrated into an operational service for vineyard management. The service was developed during the VitiGEOSS project, the primary outcome of which is the VitiGEOSS platform: a single entry-point solu