In Germany Remotely-piloted Aerial Spray Systems (RASS) are currently being use to apply crop protection products to steep vineyards. There is no data on spray drift from these sprayers so a group of researchers from Germany, USA and China teamed up to define the drift potential from three different RASS designs. Preliminary studies showed that drift from a RASS is approximately 10-1% of applied from 3 - 20 m downwind which is similar to airblast sprayers. Airblast sprayers however cannot get into the steep vineyards and so a special derogation is in place in Germany to allow manned aerial applications. The basic drift curve for manned aircraft is 75 - 10% from 3 - 20 m. These open field tests therefore, place RASS significantly below manned aircraft for drift potential. This preliminary research was conducted on bare ground giving the worst-case scenario. This year a second round of experiments were conducted in a steep vineyard. The in-canopy deposition and downwind drift were measured for three different RASS a single-rotor, a four-rotor and an eight-rotor design with a standard nozzle and a low drift nozzle, over a range of meteorological conditions. The results will be presented.

Precision pesticide applications with remotely-piloted aerial spray systems (RASS) in a steep vineyard setting

2019 Fall National Meeting

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