Detecting Cold-Air Pools from UAV-Derived Digital Terrain Models for Vineyard Frost Management

The spatial distribution of cold air pooling is largely governed by terrain, yet precise information on frost-prone zones remains unavailable to growers, who often rely on intuition or trial-and-error to guide frost management decisions.

This study applied a high-resolution UAV-derived Digital Terrain Model to the Osoyoos Larose Vineyard, located in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, using a combination of Topographic Position Index and flow accumulation analysis to map terrain-driven cold air pooling susceptibility at the vineyard scale. Potential cold air pooling zones were identified across 13 of 18 vineyard blocks, with depressions of Strong and Moderate CAP susceptibility covering a combined area of 2,042 square meters, concentrated primarily in blocks 6, 2, and 1.