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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Agron.
Sec. Weed Management
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fagro.2024.1493799
This article is part of the Research Topic Innovative Technology and Techniques for Effective Weed Control View all articles

Spray Coverage and Deposits from a Remotely Piloted Aerial Application System using Various Nozzle Types

Provisionally accepted
Thomas R. Butts Thomas R. Butts 1*Bradley K. Fritz Bradley K. Fritz 2Jason A. Davis Jason A. Davis 3Terry N. Spurlock Terry N. Spurlock 3
  • 1 Purdue University, West Lafayette, United States
  • 2 Aerial Application Technology Research Unit, Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), College Station, Texas, United States
  • 3 Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas System, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Remotely piloted aerial application systems (RPAAS) are exponentially increasing globally for pesticide applications. Evaluations of spray coverage, deposits, and droplet size, when implementing various application parameters, are needed to optimize these applications. A RPAAS at 46.8 L ha -1 provided similar or greater coverage and deposits to ground equipment at 93.5 L ha -1 across nozzle types evaluated excluding the XR. The RPAAS at 18.7 L ha -1 had reduced coverage (<9% total coverage) and deposits (<350 total deposits cm -2 ) regardless of nozzle type evaluated compared to the other two application setups. The top and back WSP locations had considerably greater coverage and deposits than the front WSP location likely due to wind speed and direction being more important drivers for spray dynamics than direction of sprayer travel. Generally, nozzle selection was less critical for coverage and deposits from RPAAS at 18.7 L ha -1 . The AITTJ60, AIXR, and TADF nozzle types may be optimum options for RPAAS, particularly at 46.8 L ha -1 , as they improved coverage, deposits, and estimated recovery rate while producing the greatest droplet size, thereby reducing spray drift potential. Results of this research demonstrated coverage, deposits, and droplet size from RPAAS at 46.8 L ha -1 can be equivalent to ground spray equipment at 93.5 L ha -1 across a range of nozzle types and therefore, may be viable for effective pesticide applications. Applications using RPAAS at 18.7 L ha -1 resulted in considerably less coverage and deposits across nozzle types evaluated, and would be at risk for reduced pesticide efficacy.

    Keywords: Application technology, Carrier volume, Droplet size, spray drone, Spray drift

    Received: 09 Sep 2024; Accepted: 14 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Butts, Fritz, Davis and Spurlock. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Thomas R. Butts, Purdue University, West Lafayette, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.