Overview of Experimental Sites
The Insitute Viti-Vinicole (IVV) in Remich is part of the public administration which supports the luxembourgish winegrowers with support in the form of advice and practical assistance. On their around 5 hectares of vineyards the institute made among others practical testing, variety trials and general research on pest and diseases (https://ma.gouvernement.lu/en/administrations/ivv.html).
Since a few years monitoring of pest and diseases in vineyards with UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are examined. Within the projects BioVIM / BioVIM2 and MonESCA the detection and spreading of the diseases Peronospera and ESCA are surveyed with UAV based cameras (multi - and hyperspectral) and field spectrometers. Such data can offer important in-situ measurements also for Copernicus data in precisison agriculture.
The Elvange experimental site consists of a parcel of agricultural land of around 2.5 ha. Within the Hydro-CSI DTU project, in situ measurements of soil moisture are gathered since March 2020, using Time-Domain Reflectivity (TDR) and soil sampling. Together, these measurements serve as an evaluation data set for remotely sensed surface soil moisture, derived from ESA’s Sentinel-1 backscatter data, using the MULESME algorithm. The Sentinel-1 surface soil moisture data set will allow for high-resolution surface soil moisture estimates, and can be applied on a large scale.
On the LuxSCAT experimental site close to Everlange a scatterometer provided by ESA is installed on a conventional managed maize field. The scatterometer is operating in different modi to scan the area for the derivation of soil wetness. In parallel the biomass of the maize is estimated with frequent field visits to understand the influence of the growing biomass on the signal. Soil roughness was estimated directly in the weeks after the installation of the scatterometer.