Simone Priori | University of Tuscia (Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo) (original) (raw)

Papers by Simone Priori

This monograph brings together the most significant results of two research projects whose common... more This monograph brings together the most significant results of two research projects whose common denominator was the study of the edaphic factors important for viticulture. The first project, entitled “Brolio”, was financed by Barone Ricasoli Spa Agricola, the wine cellars of Brolio, while the second, entitled “Issuovino”, was financed by the CRA, the Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura. The Brolio research program was carried out over three years (2008-2010), whereas Issuovino was carried out between 2009 and 2010. The participating institutions were the CRA-ABP, the Centro di Ricerca per l’Agrobiologia e la Pedologia of Firenze, the CRA-VIC Unità di Ricerca per la Viticoltura in Italia Centrale of Arezzo, the CRA-ENO Unità di Ricerca per L’Enologia of Asti of the Consiglio per la ricerca e la sperimentazione in agricoltura, the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra dell’Università di Firenze, and the Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche of Università Roma Tre...

The potential ability of the Vis-NIR (350-2500 nm) laboratory spectroscopy for prediction of soil... more The potential ability of the Vis-NIR (350-2500 nm) laboratory spectroscopy for prediction of soil properties has been demonstrated in the literature. The aim of this work was to predict different soil properties of soils collected in Mugan plain (Azerbaijan) using PLSR models and cross-validation. Carbonatation and salinisation are the main pedogenetic processes in Muganplain, therefore there is a need to monitor total carbonates and soil electrical conductivity (EC). The result of work was positive and both total carbonates and EC showed the best result (SE = 2.90, R 2-0.90 and SE-0.09, R 2-0.82, respectively). This parameter using PLSR, SOM (SE-0.54, R 2-0.83), CEC (SE-0.43, R 2-0.62), and Total P (SE-0.50, R 2-0.73) is predicted and result is over optimist. Total N (SE-0.04, R 2-0.44), and pH (SE-0.02, R 2-0.51) demonstrated low prediction quality.

Quaternary International, 2009

In temperate regions, eolian deposits of different natures are often pedogenically-altered and mi... more In temperate regions, eolian deposits of different natures are often pedogenically-altered and mixed with underlying sediments. The research reported in this paper identifies for the first time the presence of eolian deposits in soils of central Tuscany and investigates the characteristics and origin. Five relict, polycyclic paleosol profiles were studied. P1 was situated in a natural dust trap, a doline on top of an isolated limestone hill; P2 and P3 were both situated on a limestone plateau, and P4 and P5 on a mid- and foot slope on schist. The profiles were sampled for routine analyses, iron forms, heavy minerals, major and trace elements, and pollen, spores and non-pollen palynomorphs. Undisturbed samples were taken for micromorphological and SEM analyses. Nine soil horizons were sampled for OSL dating. Eolian deposits were dominant or abundant in the first layers of P1, P2 and P3. OSL age determinations of soil horizons deriving from eolian parent material were middle Holocene. Chemical and heavy mineral analyses indicated different possible sources, including bare slopes, alluvial fans and wide channels, coming from the nearby streams that drain the Middle Tuscany ridge and the Mounts of Chianti; marginal contribution of volcanic ashes was only found in P1.The research demonstrated that wind soil erosion accompanied water erosion and colluvial deposition during the middle Holocene in the Elsa River basin. Pollen spectra, in particular, indicated that soil degradation occurred in an environment showing signs of incipient desertification, resulting from an increase of aridity in a land already strongly influenced by humans. Although central Italy is currently considered to be only marginally affected by wind soil erosion, a climate change, which would imply increased arid conditions, could trigger a new cycle of slope denudation, wind erosion and loess deposition.

SOIL Discussions, 2014

Deep earthwork activities carried out before vineyard plantation can severely affect soil profile... more Deep earthwork activities carried out before vineyard plantation can severely affect soil profile properties. As a result, soil features in the root environment are often much more similar to those of the underlying substratum than those of the original profile. The time needed to recover the original soil functions is ecologically relevant and may strongly affect vine phenology and grape yield, particularly under organic viticulture.

Environmental parameters related to viticulture, selected by an explorative PCA, were: elevation, mean annual temperature, mean soil temperature, annual precipitation, clay, sand and gravel content of soils, soil water availability, redoximorphic features and rooting depth.

The variables interpolated using geostatistical methods, were used for a k-means clustering aimed to map the Natural Terroir Units (NTU). Vineyards of the province of Siena was subdivided into 9 NTU.

Both the historical DOCG (Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano) and other DOCs were characterized by three or four NTU, whereas the wider Chianti and Chianti Colli senesi DOCG was mainly constituted by seven NTU.

Physiographic maps summarize and group the landforms of a territory into homogeneous areas in ter... more Physiographic maps summarize and group the landforms of a territory into homogeneous areas in terms of kind and intensity of the main geomorphological process. These maps are often produced at semi-detailed scales, while examples at the regional scale are much less common. However, because the region is the main administrative level in Europe, physiographic maps can be very useful for land planning in many fields, such as ecological studies, risk maps, and soil mapping. This work presents a methodological example of a
regional physiographic map, compiled at a 1:250,000 scale, representing the whole Sicilian region, the largest of the Mediterranean islands. The physiographic units were classified
according to the geomorphological processes that were identified by stereo-interpretation of aerial photographs. In addition, information from other published maps, representing geomorphological landforms, eolian deposits, anthropic terraced slopes, and landslide were used to improve the accuracy and reliability of the map.

Assessing the risk of soil erosion caused by water at the regional level is important for current... more Assessing the risk of soil erosion caused by water at the regional level is important for current and future planning of land use and environmental actions to combat land degradation. The gravity of the risk depends not only on the rate of soil erosion by water, but also on other factors, primarily soil depth and workability of the underlying rocks and sediments, which may be used to calculate the eroded soil. We estimate the rate of erosion by water (tons ha21 year21) applying the Universal Soil Loss Equation model. The map of soil content (tons ha21) to the effective rooting depth was divided by the map of soil erosion rate to obtain the risk of erosion by water in Sicily, expressed in terms of years of complete loss of soil cover. This map was intersected with a map of workability of the underlying bedrock to give advice on where the cost of soil recovery by deep ripping and rock grinding are very high. 8382.9 km2 (32.6% of the Sicilian territory) were rated as at high or very high risk (,100 years), of which 1230.9 km2 developed on bedrock with low workability
and so very costly to be recovered.

This work aimed at setting up a multivariate and geostatistical methodology to map viticultural t... more This work aimed at setting up a multivariate and geostatistical methodology to map viticultural terroirs at the province scale (1:125,000). The methodology is based upon the creation of a GIS storing all the viticultural and oenological legacy data of experimental vineyards (1989–2009), long-term climate data, digital elevation model, soilscapes (land systems) and legacy data of soil profiles.Environmental parameters related to viticulture, selected by an explorative PCA, were: elevation, mean annual temperature, mean soil temperature, annual precipitation, clay, sand and gravel content of soils, soil water availability, redoximorphic features and rooting depth.The variables interpolated using geostatistical methods, were used for a k-means clustering aimed to map the Natural Terroir Units (NTU). Vineyards of the province of Siena was subdivided into 9 NTU.Both the historical DOCG (Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano) and other DOCs were characterized by three or four NTU, whereas the wider Chianti and Chianti Colli senesi DOCG was mainly constituted by seven NTU.

A b s t r a c t. The aim of this work is to present a fast and cheap method for high-resolution m... more A b s t r a c t. The aim of this work is to present a fast and cheap method for high-resolution mapping of calcic horizons in vineyards based on geoelectrical proximal sensing. The study area, 45 ha located in southern Sicily (Italy), was characterized by an old, partially dismantled marine terrace and soils with a calcic horizon at different depths. The geoelectrical investigation consisted of a survey of the soil electrical resistivity recorded with the Automatic Resistivity Profiling-03 sensor. The electrical resistivity values at three pseudo-depths, 0-50, 0-100 and 0-170 cm, were spatialized by means of ordinary kriging. A principal component analysis of the three electrical resistivity maps was carried out. During the survey, 18 boreholes, located at different electrical resistivity values, were made for soil description and sampling. The depth to the calcic horizon showed a strong correlation with electrical resistivity. The regression model between calcic horizon and the principal component analysis factors with the highest correlation coefficients was selected to spatialise the calcic horizon values. An Normalized Difference Vegetation Index map was used to validate the calcic horizon map in terms of crop response to different soil rooting depths. The strengths of this method are the quick, non-invasive kind of survey, the relevance for vine vigour, and the high spatial resolution of the final map.

The aim of the present work was to test and develop a combination of both geophysical and pedolog... more The aim of the present work was to test and develop a combination of both geophysical and pedological survey techniques devoted to the definition of a correct plan for precision viticulture. In particular, the objective of the study was to evaluate the potentiality of a combined use of these techniques to identify areas with uniform soil properties within 4 test vineyards of the "Barone Ricasoli" farm, located in the Chianti wine district (Tuscany, central Italy) and to evaluate the relationships between soil properties and wine quality. Two different geophysical methods based on the measurement of the electrical conductivity were used: an electro-magnetic induction method and electric resistivity tomographies; these were combined with detailed pedological analyses and with the evaluation of remote sensing maps. All results were compared and discussed, and finally a cluster analysis based on the evidences of geophysical tests and on pedological data was performed. For each of the identified uniform areas, a separate winemaking was successively made, and the quality of the wines is discussed and correlated to the geophysical-pedological results. The study has shown that the approach used is suitable for mapping and understanding the anomalies in soil distribution which partially reflects in the quality and effectiveness of wine production. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the geophysical data alone are not able to provide any pedological information because, in the investigated area, electrical conductivity is affected by various soil properties in a complex manner; however, these methods are very useful to integrate and complement pedological data in the aims of precision viticulture.

Quaternary International, Jan 1, 2011

The soil functional properties that characterise the terroirs of a denomination of origin area ar... more The soil functional properties that characterise the terroirs of a denomination of origin area are products and witnesses of the Quaternary events, natural and human induced, which occurred in that landscape. Knowing the Quaternary history can enhance the awareness of stakeholders about the possible environmental and economic losses that can derive from irrational soil management, which can lead to the worsening or loss of irreproducible soils of the best terroirs.

In the ”Vino Nobile di Montepulciano” wine territory, a four-year research project was conducted on the relationships between the soil and the viticultural and oenological behaviour of the Sangiovese vine. The study soils of the Montepulciano vineyard ranged notably in fertility conditions and functional characters, even when formed on the same kind of sediments. The grape production and vintage, as well as the organoleptic characteristics of the wine, depended on the kind of soil. The wines obtained from a first group of soils had a good structure and typicity, but the stability of the wine’s sensorial profile from different vintages was low. A second group exhibited good structure, typicity, and a good stability of wine sensorial profile. A third group had the highest values of yield per vine, mean cluster weight, 100 berries weight and total acidity. Also, sugar content level and sugar accumulation rate were the lowest of all vineyards. Wines showed low structure, low typicity, and high astringency in all the years of the research.

The oldest soils of the Montepulciano vineyard started their formation during the Pleistocene. During the middle Holocene, humans deeply influenced pedogenesis, but it is during the last 50 years that the intensity of anthropic action has reached its maximum. Pre-plantation activities of the new specialized vineyards upset the land. Where soils before vine plantation were deep and rather homogeneous, functional characters remained the same, whereas they changed significantly where soils were shallower. Shallow soils on marine clays, in particular, have been very vulnerable to change. The best soils for Nobile di Montepulciano wine production, that is, those belonging to the second group, were Pleistocene and Holocene paleosols, formed as a consequence of unique natural and human induced geomorphological events. Therefore, they should be considered as cultural heritages.

The work introduces a practical application of proximal (EM38-MK2) and remote (Normalized Differe... more The work introduces a practical application of proximal (EM38-MK2) and remote (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) sensing to map homogeneous zones (HZs) of two 3.5 ha vineyards in the Chianti wine district (Italy). Two replicated HZs in each vineyard were obtained by k-means clustering of three maps: i) apparent electrical conductivity, obtained by EM38-MK2 (ECa 1 0-75 cm); ii) topographic wetness index (SWI), calculated by SAGA-GIS software from the digital elevation model (DEM); iii) NDVI, extrapolated by a multi-spectral satellite image. The grapes of the selected HZs were separately harvested and vinified to test the different wine quality. The wines of the HZs were produced by the same ordinary processes of the farm cellar and all expressed high quality. However, some differences emerged between HZs, especially in terms of colour intensity, polyphenols and anthocyanins content.

Proximal sensors are becoming widely used in precision viticulture, due to the quick, easy and no... more Proximal sensors are becoming widely used in precision viticulture, due to the quick, easy and non-invasive identification of soil spatial variability. The apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) is the main parameter measured by sensors, which is correlated to many factors, like soil water content, salinity, clay content and mineralogy, bulk density, and porosity. In the last three decades, many proximal sensors for the measurement of the ECa have been produced. This study compares three different sensors to delineate soil boundaries and estimate clay and skeleton content in a vineyard of the Chianti region (Central Italy). The sensors were a geoelectric system (ARP-Automatic Resistivity Profiling) with 3 different depths of investigation (50 cm, 100 cm and 170 cm), a single-frequency Electro-Magnetic Induction sensor (EMI, Geonics EM38-DD), in horizontal (EM38_HDP) and vertical dipole configuration (EM38_VDP) and a multi-frequency EMI sensor (GSSI Profiler EMP-400), in horizontal (Profiler_HDP) and vertical (Profiler_VDP) dipole configuration. All three sensors produced ECa maps with similar pattern. The strongest correlations between the instruments were the following: ARP-50 and EM38_HDP (r = 0.774), ARP-170 and EM38_VDP (r = 0.805), and ARP-170 and Profiler in all the configurations (r = from 0.758 to 0.783). The correlations between ECa and clay content calculated on the fine earth were low or not significant with EM38 and Profiler (r = 0.36 to 0.61), both in vertical and horizontal configuration, and stronger with ARP (r = 0.61 to 0.81). The correlation improved and result significant for all the sensors (r = 0.56 to 0.86) when the percentage value of clay was referred to the whole soil (fine earth + skeleton).

aip-suoli.it

I metodi geofisici sono largamente utilizzati sia per studi geologici, quali ricerca e dimensiona... more I metodi geofisici sono largamente utilizzati sia per studi geologici, quali ricerca e dimensionamento degli acquiferi, studio di strutture sepolte, ricerca idrocarburi, sia per studi archeologici per la ricerca di manufatti e edifici sepolti. Questo perché sono metodi non invasivi, relativamente economici e possono indagare un vasto volume di terreno in breve tempo.

Quaternary International, 2009

SOIL Discussions, 2014

The variables interpolated using geostatistical methods, were used for a k-means clustering aimed to map the Natural Terroir Units (NTU). Vineyards of the province of Siena was subdivided into 9 NTU.

Quaternary International, Jan 1, 2011

aip-suoli.it