This tool uses daily weather data from 1968 to the present, covering more than 600 locations across Australia, to calculate winter chill accumulation and growing degree days/hours.
Data is sourced from the Long Paddock SILO database, drawing on Bureau of Meteorology records and filling gaps using gridded data. Updates are typically available from around midday (AEST) for the previous day.
Calculations are performed using the chillR package (Luedeling et al. 2013; Luedeling 2017).
The website was developed by the Queensland Government using apple and pear industry levies, and is now maintained through the Hort Frontiers program. DAF has also expanded the tool to include pistachio growing regions at no cost to growers, making it freely available for industry use.
Chill and Thermal Time Calculator
Further information on Chill can be found in our Pistachio Production Guide HERE