Risk assessment of climate change-induced droughts and heatwaves on French vineyards

This study aims to provide a risk assessment of climate change-induced drought and heatwave trends and their influence over French-vineyards. Given their historical importance as a vital economic and cultural asset, identification of high-risk regions could help guide adaptation strategies for future vineyard management. The study will focus on climate trends as the main influence on grape production and disregard local static (e.g: soil-composition) and punctual factors (e.g: pest-invasions). The objectives of the study are to determine the extent of the vineyard surface area in France, analyse the shift in climatic trends during the reproductive period of the grapevine from years 2000 to 2020, and with help from grapevine-specific bioclimatic indicators, determine which region’s grape production are most concerned by these risks. The methodology will involve creating a dataset of temperature and precipitation readings from key French weather-stations through the governmental-archives, conducting statistical analysis, and creating climate maps for visualization.