RICHLAND, Wash. — As winegrape harvest approaches and wildfires rip across the West, Washington State University scientists are conducting new research to help growers prepare for — and combat — smoke exposure.

Last year’s wildfire season left many Washington vineyards coated in ash and damaged by smoke, making many acres of winegrapes unharvestable.

This year, WSU researchers are trying to “get ahead” of the harvest and help growers prepare for smoke exposure. The scientists are running several projects this September, including installing air quality sensors in vineyards, exposing grapes to simulated smoke in the lab and using protective sprays on grapes.

“Our research program goes essentially from grape to glass,” said Tom Collins, assistant professor at the WSU Wine Science Center. “We’re looking at everything from what to do on the vineyard side to be better prepared, to when we start to bring the fruit in, tools we can use to change the winemaking process.”

The first piece of WSU’s research is preventive: using “barrier” sprays on grapes.

One type of barrier spray is made when researchers mix together water and kaolin clay, also known as white or china clay, and spray the solution on winegrapes.

Based on previous experiments, Collins said kaolin appears to absorb and hold smoke particles, protecting the grapes. Collins predicts that when researchers this fall spray down grapes with water right before harvesting, the barrier coating will run off, taking the particles with it and leaving clean grapes.

Another piece of WSU’s research will involve monitoring air quality near vineyards and tracking smoke’s movements through a region.

Currently, growers rely on Washington’s air quality monitoring network, with air monitoring stations based in urban centers around the state. Although these stations are useful, Collins said, there aren’t enough stations and they don’t accurately monitor what’s happening in rural areas where vineyards are.

This fall, funded by the Washington State Wine Commission and other groups, Collins’ team is installing 14 air quality sensors in commercial vineyards throughout central Washington to collect smoke density information and airflow data. The researchers plan to install more sensors in the coming years. The goal is to create predictive models that warn growers about where smoke is worst and where it might be headed next.

The researchers are also studying direct smoke impacts.

“We’re trying to figure out how much smoke it takes for winegrapes to be at risk,” said Layton Ashmore, a WSU doctoral candidate in food science.

The researchers are studying how much smoke is harmful to grapes and smoke from what plants is worst — for example, comparing smoke from rangeland plants versus woodlands.

“It’s one of the most complicated issues to face the wine industry in a long time,” said Melissa Hanson, research program director for the Washington State Wine Commission. “The impact of smoke on grapes depends on many factors, from length of time exposed, which variety, proximity to fire, type of material burning, freshness of the smoke, weather patterns and more.”

Hanson said the wine industry has already learned a lot, but there’s still much more to understand.