Articles
Evaluation of frost risk during apple bloom in Germany
Article number
1457_54
Pages
427 – 434
Language
English
Abstract
Late-spring frost events pose a major challenge for apple producers in Germany.
Extreme events like the 2017 frost can lead to dramatic yield losses, causing major economic damage for fruit growers.
However, fruit-growing regions differ in frost risk due to geographic factors such as continentality and elevation.
For management decisions such as the choice of early- or late-blooming cultivars or the application of specific protection measures, robust quantification of frost risk is indispensable.
While for some regions such estimates have been generated, spatially explicit data covering the main fruit-growing areas, as well as smaller orchards distributed across the country, is still lacking.
Here, we present a nationwide analysis of the risk of late spring frost during and after apple bloom.
We used phenology and temperature data from the German National Meteorological Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst) to quantify frost risk after the start of bloom (BBCH 60) (a) for a historic (1993-2007) and a recent (2008 to 2022) time period and (b) for early- and late-ripening apple cultivars.
We define frost as temperatures below 0°C and as temperatures below -2.2°C, with the latter being a commonly used threshold for harmful frost during apple bloom.
Based on these analyses, we provide maps of spring frost risk.
These maps can support the planning and management of apple orchards all over Germany.
Extreme events like the 2017 frost can lead to dramatic yield losses, causing major economic damage for fruit growers.
However, fruit-growing regions differ in frost risk due to geographic factors such as continentality and elevation.
For management decisions such as the choice of early- or late-blooming cultivars or the application of specific protection measures, robust quantification of frost risk is indispensable.
While for some regions such estimates have been generated, spatially explicit data covering the main fruit-growing areas, as well as smaller orchards distributed across the country, is still lacking.
Here, we present a nationwide analysis of the risk of late spring frost during and after apple bloom.
We used phenology and temperature data from the German National Meteorological Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst) to quantify frost risk after the start of bloom (BBCH 60) (a) for a historic (1993-2007) and a recent (2008 to 2022) time period and (b) for early- and late-ripening apple cultivars.
We define frost as temperatures below 0°C and as temperatures below -2.2°C, with the latter being a commonly used threshold for harmful frost during apple bloom.
Based on these analyses, we provide maps of spring frost risk.
These maps can support the planning and management of apple orchards all over Germany.
Publication
Authors
C. Schmitz, J. Kopton, K. Schiffers, E. Luedeling
Keywords
apple phenology, frost damage, spatial interpolation, weather extremes
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