I-Corps: Reducing and Managing spring frost damage

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响和商业潜力侧重于最大限度地利用抗冻资源，减少产量损失，提高质量，支持决策，降低葡萄和核果的抗冻管理成本。寒冷时期和霜冻仍然是全球葡萄和核果生产的最大敌人之一。葡萄和果园的生产与气候条件密切相关，这使得分季节的天气变化及其与气候变化的联系成为这一经济部门面临的一个具有挑战性的问题。种植者目前可能会使用化石燃料加热器、洒水系统、直升机的向下气流和风力机来对抗春季霜冻。这些方法通常很昂贵，有些会造成环境问题，而且在许多情况下，它们可能受到可用水和面积的限制。改变易受霜冻伤害的萌芽阶段的时间似乎是应对当前和新出现的气候变化挑战的可行替代方案。拟议的I-Corp计划探索端到端解决方案的实施和商业化机会。这项创新结合了一种生物活性、无毒、可生物降解的封装技术（喷雾），可以改变葡萄藤的内部生理机能，促进芽发芽延迟。预测分析系统提供建议，使明智的决定霜冻风险管理。本I-Corps项目是在结合修剪管理、生物物理和生化因素影响芽裂内源调控和抗寒性等一系列研究的基础上开展的。此外，该项目将这些知识与分析数据平台（软件）相结合，该平台将在农场层面上分析植物发育作为环境温度（物候）、地形和土壤数据的函数。结合全球和区域气候模式将有助于在高时空尺度上理解气候变率。该平台将为葡萄园和果园层面的决策提供更好的预测，以减少一些与预测芽断和霜冻风险可靠性相关的最重大挑战。此外，该预测分析系统将成为工具和服务持续创新的基础，以支持决策，以适应日益增长的实践，并保持可持续性，因为已经观察到和不断恶化的气候变化影响。I-Corp流程还将用于改进我们对客户价值、支付意愿和当前最佳替代方案成本的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project focuses on maximizing resources for frost defense, reducing yield loss, improving quality, supporting decision-making, and reducing frost management cost for grapes and stone fruits. Cold periods and frost episodes are still one of the worst enemies of grape and stone fruit production worldwide. Grape and orchard production are highly linked to climatic conditions, making sub-seasonal weather variability and its connections to climate change a challenging issue for this economic sector. Growers may presently deploy fossil fuel heaters, sprinkler systems, the downward draft from helicopters and wind machines to fight spring frost damage. These methods are usually costly, some create environmental concerns, and in many cases they may be limited by water availability and area coverage. Altering timing of bud break stages that are susceptible to frost injury appears to be a viable alternative to cope with current and emerging challenges of climate change. The proposed I-Corp program explores implementation and commercialization opportunities of an end-to-end solution. The innovation combines a bioactive, non-toxic biodegradable encapsulation technology (spray) that alters internal grapevine physiology and promotes bud break delay. A predictive analytic system provides recommendations to make informed decisions about frost risk management. This I-Corps project is based on a series of studies that have combined pruning management, biophysical and biochemical factors influencing the endogenous regulation of bud break, and resistance to cold injury. In addition, the project combines this knowledge with an analytic data platform (software) that will analyze plant development as a function of environmental temperature (phenology), topographic and soil data, at the farm level. Combination with global and regional patterns of climate patterns will aid understanding climate variability at high spatial and temporal scale. This platform will allow better prediction for decision making at the vineyard and orchard level to reduce some of the most significant challenges associated with prediction reliability about bud break and risk of frost. Moreover, this predictive analytic system will be the foundation for continued innovation in tools and services to support decision-making to adapt growing practices, and to preserve sustainability due to already observed and worsening climate change impacts. The I-Corp process will also be used to refine our understanding of customer value, willingness to pay and the cost of the best current alternatives.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.