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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Aerial Application Technology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #365115
Research Project: Aerial Application Technology for Sustainable Crop Production

Location: Aerial Application Technology Research

Title: Review of agricultural spraying technologies for plant protection using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

Author
item CHEN, HAIBO - South China Agricultural University
item Fritz, Bradley - Brad
item HOFFMANN, WESLEY - Former ARS Employee
item LAN, YUBIN - South China Agricultural University
item JINGFU, ZHENG - South China Agricultural University

Submitted to: International Journal of Precision Agricultural Aviation (IJPAA)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/12/2021
Publication Date: 1/31/2021
Citation: Chen, H., Fritz, B.K., Hoffmann, W.C., Lan, Y., Jingfu, Z. 2021. Review of agricultural spraying technologies for plant protection using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). International Journal of Precision Agricultural Aviation (IJPAA). 14(1):38-49. https://doi.org/10.25165/j.ijabe.20211401.5714.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25165/j.ijabe.20211401.5714

Interpretive Summary: The rapid development and integration of unmanned aerial spray systems in the modern agricultural production environment has the potential to significantly impact current standard practices and methodologies. While the potential benefit is significant, there is a great deal of unknowns with regard to the overall efficiency, efficacy and potential environmental impact of these systems. Through a review of current international literature, a baseline understanding of the current state of the art, the critical limitations and the knowledge gaps with respect to these systems is developed and discussed in order to provide a guide for research and development moving forward.

Technical Abstract: With changing climate and farmland ecological conditions, pest outbreaks in agricultural landscapes are becoming more frequent, increasing the need for improved crop production tools and methods. UAV-based agricultural spraying is anticipated to be an important new technology in providing efficient and effective application for crop protection products. This paper reviewed and summarized the status of current research and progress of UAV application technologies for plant protection, and discussed the characteristic of atomization on unmanned aircraft application systems with a focus on spray application of agrichemicals. Additionally, the factors influencing spraying performance and a number of key technologies for reducing drift and enhancing application efficiency are considered. Based on the reviewed literature, future developments and impacts of UAV technologies are projected.