Description

No matter how dense a meteorological observation network may be, a user will often need
to know the values of meteorological parameters at sites where the measurements are not
made. Spatial interpolation of agrometeorological data is intended to estimate the value of
a meteorological parameter at a given place on the basis of measurements made in the
vicinity. It may be used to retrieve missing values or to estimate values at regular grid
points when a GIS, for example, is being used. There are two different needs for spatial
interpolation: first, spatial interpolation of real-time or quasi-real-time data and spatial
interpolation of data obtained over a long period of observation. Spatial interpolation
software based on mathematical models such as kriging exist and are available. As the
confidence in our ability to understand the spatial nature of a terrain and apply this
knowledge to real field situations grew, it gave way to the development of some exciting
new fields such as precision farming. Hence we can foresee excellent future for more
applications of spatial techniques and hence seminars such as this one organized in Volterra
are quite relevant.