 Scientists from NASA Ames Research Center have teamed with Robert Mondavi Winery in several universities to study a problem that may cause many of the finest wine-growing regions in California over a billion dollars. It could destroy half of their crops. A tiny root parasite called phylloxera has devastated popular varieties of grapes in the Napa Valley, causing a serious decline in food production. The insects feed on healthy plant roots, exposing them to disease and stress. Ultimately, the plants riddle and die. For most farmers, early detection is nearly impossible because by the time the visual symptoms appear, the vines are severely affected and will die in one to three years. Using airborne scanners and sophisticated remote sensing techniques, NASA is developing new ways to spot the problem before crops decline. Growers can then anticipate the need to replant with phylloxera-resistant rootstocks. Phil Freese manages the project for Robert Mondavi Vineyards. Remote sensing allows the detection of stress before we can ever see it with the naked eye, and that gives us a glimpse into the future so that we can do a better job of planning for the eventuality of the loss of those vines. This is the Napa Valley, home to America's most prestigious wine growers. Vintners here produce the fine Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and Cabernet Sauvignon that have helped put the California wine industry on the international map. But lurking beneath the surface of these green fields are tiny parasites called phylloxera that threaten the very roots of a $6 billion industry. Entomologist Jeff Grenette. The place where it's feeding is a wounded area, and fungus or bacteria can get into that and cause an infection, which will eventually kill that portion of the root. Infrared aerial photography, taken over a five-year period, reveals phylloxera's devastating effects. Dead areas show up gray. Imagery like this helps farmers see current damage, but it doesn't provide enough information for future planning. Growers need better tools. So there's where it comes in asset, because the very sophisticated technology, remote sensing allows the detection of stress before we can ever see it with the naked eye, and that gives us a glimpse into the future so that we can do a better job of planning for the eventuality of the loss of those bonds. Phil Freese manages the phylloxera project for Robert Mondavi winery. Bob Mondavi has always thought to the future. In this case we looked up into the sky, we looked for the technology, we looked beyond the horizon. They looked to space. NASA scientists at nearby Ames Research Center have been developing remote sensing technology to study the Earth's surface using aircraft and satellites. For the last 10 years, NASA has been trying to get remote sensing into more commercial uses to develop more industry partnerships. NASA's Joan Salud heads the Grape Project. 13 includes participants from Ames, Mondavi winery, and California's Davis and Chico universities. We called up about four wineries last fall and met with about four different groups and explained to them what we wanted to try to do. And Mondavi was the one who said, we're your guys, we want to do that same thing. This is where all the phylloxera is. One, two, and three have visual signs and it's in the ground. Four, five, and six have no visual signs on the leaves, but it is in the ground. And seven, eight, and nine are totally healthy and there's nothing in the ground. An 11-acre test site is blocked into sections with healthy, moderate, and severely infested vines. Hand-held instruments are used to measure chlorophyll levels, which are a barometer on the place. Right now, if you look at a leaf from any of those three categories, they look the same to our eyes, but we're going to take them back into the lab at Ames and do spectral analysis and also chemical analysis to see how those leaves differ. This is the second sample for blood states. Uden laboratory data provides a baseline for each level of infestation. Scientists estimate chlorophyll levels and use an airborne scanner to gather information on thousands of plants. Like infrared photos, the resulting images indicate where the vines are dying. But the images can also warn growers of where the bugs are just beginning their attack. But the phalloxra pattern seems to be going kind of in the north-south direction. The resolution is so much better, the contrast, the ability to see the areas that are already affected by phalloxra just jump out at you even more so. Monitoring infestation is one thing, but doing something about it is another. We don't have any chemical agents that will cure our problem and prevent phalloxra in Napa Valley. Fortunately, nurseries are growing roots which are resistant to phalloxra. Many of the popular grape plants like Chardonnay or Pinot Noir would easily fall prey to the underground pest if they were grown on their own roots. Witnesses get around this problem by having nurseries graft or splice resistant stalks to the fruit-bearing portion of the plant. What we've chosen to do here at Robert Mondavi Vineyards is to remove those vines that are affected with phalloxra, go back in and replant these new root stalks that are tolerant to any phalloxra that might be in the soil. The cost of replanting at Mondavi Vineyards alone could run to $20 million. That's why it's so critical that vintners know where and when phalloxra will strike before replanting. Rather than having a feeling that it's really spreading, we'll be able to say, look, it's spread 30% over this past year in this direction. The NASA partnership with Mondavi and universities at Davis and Chico is working very well. In fact, they couldn't use the digital images sooner. The Mondavi team members were looking at the imagery and said, we made a decision to rip out half this field. From looking at this imagery, we should have ripped out three-quarters of it because part of what we left is useless. And if they had gone ahead and ripped out more of the field and replanted sooner, they'd have a crop a lot sooner. This new technology will have a long-term impact far beyond Mondavi Vineyards. The results of this three-year NASA project will be shared with wine growers throughout the state. We'll get this information developed and then take it out and let everyone else use it because no one survives in this industry alone. We all survive together. Improved field management developed from the NASA research efforts may also improve wine quality and taste. Very good. Satisfying worldwide turnout.