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For the estimation of the soil organic carbon stocks, bulk density (BD) is a fundamental parameter but measured data are usually not available especially when dealing with legacy soil data. It is possible to estimate BD by applying pedotransfer function (PTF). We applied different estimation methods with the aim to define a suitable PTF for BD of arable land for the Mediterranean Basin, which has peculiar climate features that may influence the soil carbon sequestration. To improve the existing BD estimation methods, we used a set of public climatic and topographic data along with the soil texture and organic carbon data. The present work consisted of the following steps: i) development of three PTFs models separately for top (0–0.4 m) and subsoil (0.4–1.2 m), ii) a 10-fold cross-validation, iii) model transferability using an external dataset derived from published data. The development of the new PTFs was based on the training dataset consisting of World Soil Information Service (WoSIS) soil profile data, climatic data from WorldClim at 1 km spatial resolution and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model at 30 m spatial resolution. The three PTFs models were developed using: Multiple Linear Regression stepwise (MLR-S), Multiple Linear Regression backward stepwise (MLR-BS), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The predictions of the newly developed PTFs were compared with the BD calculated using the PTF proposed by Manrique and Jones (MJ) and the modelled BD derived from the global SoilGrids dataset. For the topsoil training dataset (N = 129), MLR-S, MLR-BS and ANN had a R2 0.35, 0.58 and 0.86, respectively. For the model transferability, the three PTFs applied to the external topsoil dataset (N = 59), achieved R2 values of 0.06, 0.03 and 0.41. For the subsoil training dataset (N = 180), MLR-S, MLR-BS and ANN the R2 values were 0.36, 0.46 and 0.83, respectively. When applied to the external subsoil dataset (N = 29), the R2 values were 0.05, 0.06 and 0.41. The cross-validation for both top and subsoil dataset, resulted in an intermediate performance compared to calibration and validation with the external dataset. The new ANN PTF outperformed MLR-S, MLR-BS, MJ and SoilGrids approaches for estimating BD. Further improvements may be achieved by additionally considering the time of sampling, agricultural soil management and cultivation practices in predictive models.
Calogero Schillaci; Alessia Perego; Elena Valkama; Michael Märker; Sergio Saia; Fabio Veronesi; Aldo Lipani; Luigi Lombardo; Tommaso Tadiello; Hannes A. Gamper; Luigi Tedone; Cami Moss; Elena Pareja-Serrano; Gabriele Amato; Kersten Kühl; Claudia Dămătîrcă; Alessia Cogato; Nada Mzid; Rasu Eeswaran; Marya Rabelo; Giorgio Sperandio; Alberto Bosino; Margherita Bufalini; Tülay Tunçay; Jianqi Ding; Marco Fiorentini; Guadalupe Tiscornia; Sarah Conradt; Marco Botta; Marco Acutis. New pedotransfer approaches to predict soil bulk density using WoSIS soil data and environmental covariates in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems. Science of The Total Environment 2021, 780, 146609 .
AMA StyleCalogero Schillaci, Alessia Perego, Elena Valkama, Michael Märker, Sergio Saia, Fabio Veronesi, Aldo Lipani, Luigi Lombardo, Tommaso Tadiello, Hannes A. Gamper, Luigi Tedone, Cami Moss, Elena Pareja-Serrano, Gabriele Amato, Kersten Kühl, Claudia Dămătîrcă, Alessia Cogato, Nada Mzid, Rasu Eeswaran, Marya Rabelo, Giorgio Sperandio, Alberto Bosino, Margherita Bufalini, Tülay Tunçay, Jianqi Ding, Marco Fiorentini, Guadalupe Tiscornia, Sarah Conradt, Marco Botta, Marco Acutis. New pedotransfer approaches to predict soil bulk density using WoSIS soil data and environmental covariates in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems. Science of The Total Environment. 2021; 780 ():146609.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCalogero Schillaci; Alessia Perego; Elena Valkama; Michael Märker; Sergio Saia; Fabio Veronesi; Aldo Lipani; Luigi Lombardo; Tommaso Tadiello; Hannes A. Gamper; Luigi Tedone; Cami Moss; Elena Pareja-Serrano; Gabriele Amato; Kersten Kühl; Claudia Dămătîrcă; Alessia Cogato; Nada Mzid; Rasu Eeswaran; Marya Rabelo; Giorgio Sperandio; Alberto Bosino; Margherita Bufalini; Tülay Tunçay; Jianqi Ding; Marco Fiorentini; Guadalupe Tiscornia; Sarah Conradt; Marco Botta; Marco Acutis. 2021. "New pedotransfer approaches to predict soil bulk density using WoSIS soil data and environmental covariates in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems." Science of The Total Environment 780, no. : 146609.
Over the last two decades, the dairy industry has adopted the use of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS). AMS have the potential to increase the effectiveness of the milking process and sustain animal welfare. This study assessed the state of the art of research activities on AMS through a systematic review of scientific and industrial research. The papers and patents of the last 20 years (2000–2019) were analysed to assess the research tendencies. The words appearing in title, abstract and keywords of a total of 802 documents were processed with the text mining tool. Four clusters were identified (Components, Technology, Process and Animal). For each cluster, the words frequency analysis enabled us to identify the research tendencies and gaps. The results showed that focuses of the scientific and industrial research areas complementary, with scientific papers mainly dealing with topics related to animal and process, and patents giving priority to technology and components. Both scientific and industrial research converged on some crucial objectives, such as animal welfare, process sustainability and technological development. Despite the increasing interest in animal welfare, this review highlighted that further progress is needed to meet the consumers’ demand. Moreover, milk yield is still regarded as more valuable compared to milk quality. Therefore, additional effort is necessary on the latter. At the process level, some gaps have been found related to cleaning operations, necessary to improve milk quality and animal health. The use of farm data and their incorporation on herd decision support systems (DSS) appeared optimal. The results presented in this review may be used as an overall assessment useful to address future research.
Alessia Cogato; Marta Brščić; Hao Guo; Francesco Marinello; Andrea Pezzuolo. Challenges and Tendencies of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS): A 20-Years Systematic Review of Literature and Patents. Animals 2021, 11, 356 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Marta Brščić, Hao Guo, Francesco Marinello, Andrea Pezzuolo. Challenges and Tendencies of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS): A 20-Years Systematic Review of Literature and Patents. Animals. 2021; 11 (2):356.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Marta Brščić; Hao Guo; Francesco Marinello; Andrea Pezzuolo. 2021. "Challenges and Tendencies of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS): A 20-Years Systematic Review of Literature and Patents." Animals 11, no. 2: 356.
Over the last 20 years, the dairy industry has implemented new technologies related to automatic milking systems (AMS). AMSs have the potential to maximize milk production and animals’ welfare thanks to voluntary milking access, as well as to increase the resource efficiency and environmental sustainability of dairy farms. In this study we assessed the state of the art of research on AMS through a systematic review of patent trends in the last two decades. Patents from the last 20 years were extracted from the EspaceNet database. Terms appearing in titles and abstracts of a total of 154 patents were processed using a text mining approach, ignoring low-frequency and meaningless words, and including stemming analysis to aggregate variant forms of the same word. Four clusters were identified: Components, Sensors, Process and Animal. The results showed that the highest number of patents was yielded in the early 2000s, thus indicating great interest in AMS in the initial period. The cluster trend pointed out that the focus on the animal and sensing technologies has been constant over time. In recent years, the priority of research has shifted towards process efficiency and components. Detailed analysis of clusters allowed us to appreciate an increasing interest in the animals’ health and body conditions over time (+249% and +391% from 2000 to 2019, respectively). The processes which showed increasing relevance were the ones related to the cleaning of facilities (+291%). The study of new sensing technologies has focused primarily on imaging, allowing researchers to develop new decision models (+348%). The results suggest that AMS patents are moving their attention towards more efficient and sustainable systems. This trend represents an important opportunity for a significant increase in the sustainability of the dairy sector, not only for animals but also for the farmers through the efficient use of the resources, thus enhancing the consumer’s perception of sustainability.
Alessia Cogato; Marta Brščić; Francesco Marinello; Andrea Pezzuolo. A 20-Year Analysis of the Evolution of Automatic Milking Systems: Processes, Technologies and Livestock Environment. Proceedings of The 1st International Electronic Conference on Animals—Global Sustainability and Animals: Science, Ethics and Policy 2020, 73, 3 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Marta Brščić, Francesco Marinello, Andrea Pezzuolo. A 20-Year Analysis of the Evolution of Automatic Milking Systems: Processes, Technologies and Livestock Environment. Proceedings of The 1st International Electronic Conference on Animals—Global Sustainability and Animals: Science, Ethics and Policy. 2020; 73 (1):3.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Marta Brščić; Francesco Marinello; Andrea Pezzuolo. 2020. "A 20-Year Analysis of the Evolution of Automatic Milking Systems: Processes, Technologies and Livestock Environment." Proceedings of The 1st International Electronic Conference on Animals—Global Sustainability and Animals: Science, Ethics and Policy 73, no. 1: 3.
Agricultural land use plays a critical role in land planning sustainability. Employing a GIS-based decision-making protocol based on spatial and management data represents an appropriate tool for land planning. The Italian vineyards database presented here describes several spatial and management features of 3686 sample vineyards distributed throughout Italy. The dataset is presented as a centroid shapefile with the attribute table. The features were assessed with a GIS-based geospatial analysis. Parameters such as training system and shape of the vineyard block were attributed through visual assessment of Google Earth images. Row spacing, length-width ratio and headland size were determined using QGIS measuring tools. The mean and maximum slope was derived using a 20 m spatial resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM). This database may help to establish planting criteria of new vineyards which comply with rational and sustainable requirements. Moreover, the dataset could be combined with other agricultural land use data for further analysis of land management. Furthermore, the database could be implemented to support global-scale vineyard management.
Alessia Cogato; Andrea Pezzuolo; Marco Sozzi; Francesco Marinello. A sample of Italian vineyards: Landscape and management parameters dataset. Data in Brief 2020, 33, 106589 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Andrea Pezzuolo, Marco Sozzi, Francesco Marinello. A sample of Italian vineyards: Landscape and management parameters dataset. Data in Brief. 2020; 33 ():106589.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Andrea Pezzuolo; Marco Sozzi; Francesco Marinello. 2020. "A sample of Italian vineyards: Landscape and management parameters dataset." Data in Brief 33, no. : 106589.
Planting criteria of new vineyards should comply with rational and sustainable criteria, taking into account the potential mechanisability of existing viticultural areas. However, an established methodology for this assessment is still lacking. This study aimed at analysing the parameters which influence the vineyard mechanisability, with the objective to propose a new mechanisability index. The mechanisability index proposed was based on GIS-analysis of landscape and management parameters such as mean slope, shape of the vineyard block, length-width ratio, headland size, training system and row spacing. We identified a sample of 3686 vineyards in Italy. Based on the above-mentioned parameters, vineyards were categorised by their level of mechanisability (l.m.) into four classes. Moreover, we analysed the correlation between l.m. and economic indicators (area planted with vineyard and wine production). Results showed that the main factors limiting the mechanisability potential of some Italian regions are the elevated slopes, horizontal training systems and narrow vine spacings. The l.m. showed a moderate positive correlation with the size of vineyards and the volume and value of production. The methodology presented in this study may be easily applied to other viticultural areas around the world, serving as a management decision-making tool.
Alessia Cogato; Andrea Pezzuolo; Claus Grøn Sørensen; Roberta De Bei; Marco Sozzi; Francesco Marinello. A GIS-Based Multicriteria Index to Evaluate the Mechanisability Potential of Italian Vineyard Area. Land 2020, 9, 469 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Andrea Pezzuolo, Claus Grøn Sørensen, Roberta De Bei, Marco Sozzi, Francesco Marinello. A GIS-Based Multicriteria Index to Evaluate the Mechanisability Potential of Italian Vineyard Area. Land. 2020; 9 (11):469.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Andrea Pezzuolo; Claus Grøn Sørensen; Roberta De Bei; Marco Sozzi; Francesco Marinello. 2020. "A GIS-Based Multicriteria Index to Evaluate the Mechanisability Potential of Italian Vineyard Area." Land 9, no. 11: 469.
In a climate-change context, the advancement of phenological stages may endanger viticultural areas in the event of a late frost. This study evaluated the potential of satellite-based remote sensing to assess the damage and the recovery time after a late frost event in 2017 in northern Italian vineyards. Several vegetation indices (VIs) normalized on a two-year dataset (2018–2019) were compared over a frost-affected area (F) and a control area (NF) using unpaired two-sample t-test. Furthermore, the must quality data (total acidity, sugar content and pH) of F and NF were analyzed. The VIs most sensitive in the detection of frost damage were Chlorophyll Absorption Ratio Index (CARI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and Modified Triangular Vegetation Index 1 (MTVI1) (−5.26%, −16.59%, and −5.77% compared to NF, respectively). The spectral bands Near-Infrared (NIR) and Red Edge 7 were able to identify the frost damage (−16.55 and −16.67% compared to NF, respectively). Moreover, CARI, EVI, MTVI1, NIR, Red Edge 7, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Modified Simple Ratio (MSR) provided precise information on the full recovery time (+17.7%, +22.42%, +29.67%, +5.89%, +5.91%, +16.48%, and +8.73% compared to NF, respectively) approximately 40 days after the frost event. The must analysis showed that total acidity was higher (+5.98%), and pH was lower (−2.47%) in F compared to NF. These results suggest that medium-resolution multispectral data from Sentinel-2 constellation may represent a cost-effective tool for frost damage assessment and recovery management.
Alessia Cogato; Franco Meggio; Cassandra Collins; Francesco Marinello. Medium-Resolution Multispectral Data from Sentinel-2 to Assess the Damage and the Recovery Time of Late Frost on Vineyards. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 1896 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Franco Meggio, Cassandra Collins, Francesco Marinello. Medium-Resolution Multispectral Data from Sentinel-2 to Assess the Damage and the Recovery Time of Late Frost on Vineyards. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (11):1896.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Franco Meggio; Cassandra Collins; Francesco Marinello. 2020. "Medium-Resolution Multispectral Data from Sentinel-2 to Assess the Damage and the Recovery Time of Late Frost on Vineyards." Remote Sensing 12, no. 11: 1896.
Heatwaves are common in many viticultural regions of Australia. We evaluated the potential of satellite-based remote sensing to detect the effects of high temperatures on grapevines in a South Australian vineyard over the 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 seasons. The study involved: (i) comparing the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from medium- and high-resolution satellite images; (ii) determining correlations between environmental conditions and vegetation indices (Vis); and (iii) identifying VIs that best indicate heatwave effects. Pearson’s correlation and Bland–Altman testing showed a significant agreement between the NDVI of high- and medium-resolution imagery (R = 0.74, estimated difference −0.093). The band and the VI most sensitive to changes in environmental conditions were 705 nm and enhanced vegetation index (EVI), both of which correlated with relative humidity (R = 0.65 and R = 0.62, respectively). Conversely, SWIR (short wave infrared, 1610 nm) exhibited a negative correlation with growing degree days (R = −0.64). The analysis of heat stress showed that green and red edge bands—the chlorophyll absorption ratio index (CARI) and transformed chlorophyll absorption ratio index (TCARI)—were negatively correlated with thermal environmental parameters such as air and soil temperature and growing degree days (GDDs). The red and red edge bands—the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) and CARI2—were correlated with relative humidity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the effectiveness of using medium-resolution imagery for the detection of heat stress on grapevines in irrigated vineyards.
Alessia Cogato; Vinay Pagay; Francesco Marinello; Franco Meggio; Peter Grace; Massimiliano De Antoni Migliorati. Assessing the Feasibility of Using Sentinel-2 Imagery to Quantify the Impact of Heatwaves on Irrigated Vineyards. Remote Sensing 2019, 11, 2869 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Vinay Pagay, Francesco Marinello, Franco Meggio, Peter Grace, Massimiliano De Antoni Migliorati. Assessing the Feasibility of Using Sentinel-2 Imagery to Quantify the Impact of Heatwaves on Irrigated Vineyards. Remote Sensing. 2019; 11 (23):2869.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Vinay Pagay; Francesco Marinello; Franco Meggio; Peter Grace; Massimiliano De Antoni Migliorati. 2019. "Assessing the Feasibility of Using Sentinel-2 Imagery to Quantify the Impact of Heatwaves on Irrigated Vineyards." Remote Sensing 11, no. 23: 2869.
Despite the increase of publications focusing on the consequences of extreme weather events (EWE) for the agricultural sector, a specific review of EWE related to agriculture is missing. This work aimed at assessing the interrelation between EWE and agriculture through a systematic quantitative review of current scientific literature. The review analysed 19 major cropping systems (cereals, legumes, viticulture, horticulture and pastures) across five continents. Documents were extracted from the Scopus database and examined with a text mining tool to appraise the trend of publications across the years, the specific EWE-related issues examined and the research gaps addressed. The results highlighted that food security and economic losses due to the EWE represent a major interest of the scientific community. Implementation of remote sensing and imagery techniques for monitoring and detecting the effects of EWE is still underdeveloped. Large research gaps still lie in the areas concerning the effects of EWE on major cash crops (grapevine and tomato) and the agronomic dynamics of EWE in developing countries. Current knowledge on the physiological dynamics regulating the responses of main crops to EWE appears to be well established, while more research is urgently needed in the fields of mitigation measures and governance systems.
Alessia Cogato; Franco Meggio; Massimiliano De Antoni Migliorati; Francesco Marinello. Extreme Weather Events in Agriculture: A Systematic Review. Sustainability 2019, 11, 2547 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Franco Meggio, Massimiliano De Antoni Migliorati, Francesco Marinello. Extreme Weather Events in Agriculture: A Systematic Review. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (9):2547.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Franco Meggio; Massimiliano De Antoni Migliorati; Francesco Marinello. 2019. "Extreme Weather Events in Agriculture: A Systematic Review." Sustainability 11, no. 9: 2547.
Climate is the most relevant factor influencing the ripening of high quality grapes to produce a given wine style. This notion should be taken into account, given the increase of extreme weather events (EWE) related to climate change. Under this evolving climate scenario, North-East Italian wine regions have seen a recent expansion, potentially disregarding optimal planting choices. The use of marginal land, indeed, could lead to the establishment of vineyards in areas where it is not possible to take advantage of the best row orientation, slope and aspect. Under these conditions, the consequences of some EWE may be more severe. The objective of this study is to verify whether planting options in combination with climate conditions, may affect yield and fruit quality. An area localised in Northern Italy was analysed for row orientation and slope, taking advantage of QGIS tools. The area was also examined for climate conditions, using weather conditions and climate indices. Such variables were combined with 10-year yield and must composition of four varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot and Glera) by using linear regression. The paper reports the most significant relationships between climatic conditions and grapevine composition. The results showed high positive correlation between sugar concentration and the number of frost days during the year in three varieties. The sugar content was positively correlated with the relative humidity in June in three varieties and negatively correlated with the number of days with a temperature >25°C during the month of June in two varieties. The content of tartaric acid showed high correlations with thermal indices of May in all varieties.
Alessia Cogato; Franco Meggio; Francesco Pirotti; Alberto Cristante; Francesco Marinello. Analysis and impact of recent climate trends on grape composition in north-east Italy. BIO Web of Conferences 2019, 13, 04014 .
AMA StyleAlessia Cogato, Franco Meggio, Francesco Pirotti, Alberto Cristante, Francesco Marinello. Analysis and impact of recent climate trends on grape composition in north-east Italy. BIO Web of Conferences. 2019; 13 ():04014.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessia Cogato; Franco Meggio; Francesco Pirotti; Alberto Cristante; Francesco Marinello. 2019. "Analysis and impact of recent climate trends on grape composition in north-east Italy." BIO Web of Conferences 13, no. : 04014.
Marco Sozzi; Alessia Cogato; Stefano Nale; Simone Gatto. Patent trends in agricultural engineering. 17th International Scientific Conference Engineering for Rural Development 2018, 1 .
AMA StyleMarco Sozzi, Alessia Cogato, Stefano Nale, Simone Gatto. Patent trends in agricultural engineering. 17th International Scientific Conference Engineering for Rural Development. 2018; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Sozzi; Alessia Cogato; Stefano Nale; Simone Gatto. 2018. "Patent trends in agricultural engineering." 17th International Scientific Conference Engineering for Rural Development , no. : 1.