Towards a non-invasive monitoring of the soil-plant-atmosphere interactions: insights from a Mediterranean vineyard case study

Towards a non-invasive monitoring of the soil-plant-atmosphere interactions: insights from a Mediterranean vineyard case study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Towards a non-invasive monitoring of the soil-plant-atmosphere interactions: insights from a Mediterranean vineyard case study Riccardo Mazzoleni, Francesco Vinzio, Marco Benfenati, Ilaria Filippetti, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7981024/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study evaluated a non-invasive, integrated monitoring approach to characterize the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) in a commercial vineyard of Pignoletto (PG) and Trebbiano Romagnolo (TR). The approach is based on a cosmic-ray neutron sensor (CRNS) to continuously monitor soil water content (SWC), which was normalized into extractable soil water (ESW) to represent plant-available water. Moreover, vapor pressure deficit (VPD) was calculated based on weather data to characterize the atmospheric demand. Finally, remotely sensed NDVI data were used to detect canopy development and vine physiological responses. Over two growing seasons, measurements of midday stem water potential (Ψ stem ) and berry composition complemented the monitoring activities. In 2023, ripening was largely buffered from atmospheric demand, with Ψ stem values between − 0.66 and − 1.06 MPa, reflecting SWC as a non-limiting factor and uniform ripening. Conversely, the 2024 season showed more negative Ψ stem (-0.95 to -1.12 MPa) and an accelerated ripening process, particularly in TR. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) explained 65% of the variance in 2023 and 81.5% in 2024, revealing that environmental drivers (ESW, VPD) became more tightly linked to physiological and grape composition traits (Ψ stem , TSS, TA). Overall, the results showed the capability of the integrated approach to capture the main interactions within the SPAC offering a non-invasive and scalable tool for supporting precision and sustainability in Mediterranean viticulture. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 22 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 07 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 30 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7981024","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":544013926,"identity":"ebf5ce12-9af2-4eb8-81ee-3778b42c1957","order_by":0,"name":"Riccardo 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The approach is based on a cosmic-ray neutron sensor (CRNS) to continuously monitor soil water content (SWC), which was normalized into extractable soil water (ESW) to represent plant-available water. Moreover, vapor pressure deficit (VPD) was calculated based on weather data to characterize the atmospheric demand. Finally, remotely sensed NDVI data were used to detect canopy development and vine physiological responses. Over two growing seasons, measurements of midday stem water potential (Ψ\u003csub\u003estem\u003c/sub\u003e) and berry composition complemented the monitoring activities. In 2023, ripening was largely buffered from atmospheric demand, with Ψ\u003csub\u003estem\u003c/sub\u003e values between − 0.66 and − 1.06 MPa, reflecting SWC as a non-limiting factor and uniform ripening. Conversely, the 2024 season showed more negative Ψ\u003csub\u003estem\u003c/sub\u003e (-0.95 to -1.12 MPa) and an accelerated ripening process, particularly in TR. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) explained 65% of the variance in 2023 and 81.5% in 2024, revealing that environmental drivers (ESW, VPD) became more tightly linked to physiological and grape composition traits (Ψ\u003csub\u003estem\u003c/sub\u003e, TSS, TA). 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