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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 #402937
Research Project: Improved Aerial Application Technologies for Precise and Effective Delivery of Crop Production Products

Location: Aerial Application Technology Research

Title: Spray drift characterization of a remotely piloted aerial application system

Author
item Martin, Daniel - Dan
item TANG, ZHENXU - Bayer Cropscience
item YANG, YANING - Bayer Cropscience
item Latheef, Mohamed - Ab
item Fritz, Bradley - Brad
item KRUGER, GREG - University Of Nebraska
item HOUSTON, TRENTON - University Of Nebraska

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/21/2024
Publication Date: 7/29/2024
Citation: Martin, D.E., Tang, Z., Yang, Y., Latheef, M.A., Fritz, B.K., Kruger, G., Houston, T. 2024. Spray drift characterization of a remotely piloted aerial application system. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 40(4):385-399. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.15605.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.15605

Interpretive Summary: Spray drift from agricultural spray applications continues to be a major concern for American farmers. A field study was conducted which compared two types of pesticide spray equipment, a traditional tractor-mounted sprayer and a new remote-piloted aircraft sprayer, to determine their effectiveness and potential impact on the environment. The remote-piloted sprayer showed higher levels of airborne spray movement and potential drift compared to the tractor sprayer. The size of the droplets used in the spray application played a significant role in spray drift, with larger spray droplets helping to mitigate drift. These findings can help inform decisions about how to best use and regulate pesticide application to protect both crops and the environment.

Technical Abstract: The phenomenal growth of RPAASs in recent years has raised questions about its impact on off-target movement of crop protection products. Few quality field data currently exist to improve the understanding of the fundamental factors that govern spray drift and deposition for RPAASs, and to compare such data with conventional ground application platforms. A field study was conducted to compare spray deposition and downwind drift from a 10-L RPAAS with a conventional tractor-mounted boom sprayer. Applications were made with two different agricultural spray nozzles, which produced medium and extra coarse spray droplet spectra. Spray drift and deposition were measured out to 100 m downwind and airborne drift was determined out to 50 m downwind at heights of 0.2 and 2 m. Regardless of the delivery platforms, overall spray drift was greater for the medium nozzle than that for the extra coarse nozzle, indicating the applied droplet size was a critical factor governing spray deposition. The RPAAS had significantly higher ground and airborne spray deposition than the tractor-mounted boom sprayer for both the medium and extra coarse nozzle treatments out to 10 m downwind without swath offset and 5 m downwind with swath offset. Utilizing swath offset to account for displacement of the swath caused by wind-driven off-target movement could be effective in reducing drift for the RPAAS platform, particularly for the medium spray treatment. The use of swath offset with careful consideration of wind speed proved to be a best management practice for mitigating spray drift in RPAAS applications and is recommended for consideration for ongoing regulation development on spray drift characterizations.