Drift reduction in orchards through the use of an autonomous UAV system

Sánchez-Fernández, Luis; Barrera, María; Martínez-Guanter, Jorge; Ruiz, Manuel Pérez

doi:10.1016/j.compag.2023.107981

Cited by 12 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results suggest that UAV sprayers generate significantly less airborne drift than conventional orchard sprayers. These results align with the findings of previous work ( Sánchez-Fernández et al., 2023 ), which observed reduced sedimented spray drift from a UAV sprayer compared to a conventional terrestrial orchard sprayer. Our experiments observed no statistically significant differences in the airborne spray drift among the various heights tested for any of the studied sprayers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…In some situations, spraying UAVs might be more suitable than conventional spraying systems since they can spray areas that are difficult for workers or machinery to access, such as hilly or muddy plots. Some studies suggest that the use of spraying UAVs has several advantages over conventional terrestrial spraying systems, especially when compared to orchard ( Sánchez-Fernández et al., 2023 ) and backpack sprayers ( Wang et al., 2018 ; Sarri et al., 2019 ; Xiao et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Reducing environmental exposure to PPPs in super-high density olive orchards using UAV sprayers

Sánchez-Fernández,

Barrera-Báez,

Martínez-Guanter

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The increasing demand for optimizing the use of agricultural resources will require the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and precision farming management. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sprayers seem promising due to their potential to perform precision or spot spraying, particularly in woody crop environments where total surface spraying is unnecessary. However, incorporating this technology is limited by the lack of scientific knowledge about the environmental risks associated with UAV sprayers and the strict legal framework. Nonetheless, these spraying systems’ characteristic downwash airflow and the limited swath width can potentially mitigate drift in hedgerow crops. During our study we performed comparative studies aimed to compare the airborne drift, soil, and crop depositions between a conventional orchard sprayer and a UAV sprayer in a commercial superhigh-density orchard in the South Iberian Peninsula in 2022. Our findings reveal that, in superhigh-density olive orchards, the UAV sprayer presents a substantial reduction in airborne drift, while soil depositions showed no significant differences compared to those of a conventional terrestrial orchard sprayer. Crop depositions were significantly lower when utilizing the UAV sprayer. These results suggest that introducing UAV spraying technology in Mediterranean agricultural systems, under specific scenarios, can effectively reduce the environmental impact of crop spraying and encourage the responsible use of plant protection products (PPPs).

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing environmental exposure to PPPs in super-high density olive orchards using UAV sprayers

Sánchez-Fernández,

Barrera-Báez,

Martínez-Guanter

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Assessing the potential spray drift of a six‐rotor unmanned aerial vehicle sprayer using a test bench and airborne drift collectors under low wind velocities: impact of atomization characteristics and application parameters

Wongsuk,

Zhu,

Zheng

et al. 2024

Pest Management Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUNDThe unmanned aerial spraying systems (UASS) have gained widespread use for plant protection in recent years. However, spray drift from UASS is a major concern when controlling weeds over large areas and warrants a thorough investigation. This study examined the atomization characteristics of the herbicide florpyrauxifen‐benzyl under downwash airflow using a UASS spray test platform. Potential spray drift was assessed using a test bench (TB) and airborne drift collectors (ADCs) in the field under low wind speeds (<1 m s−1).RESULTSAtomization characteristics were significantly affected by the spray liquid, adjuvant, nozzle type and spray pressure. The addition of an adjuvant reduced the liquid sheet length, improved physicochemical properties and increased droplet size under the downwash airflow field. Drift evaluation in the field using the TB revealed that sediment spray drift predominantly occurred from the middle to the entire length of the device when fine‐to‐medium droplets were produced after the sprayer passed. ADC assessment found that higher flight altitudes and finer droplets resulted in higher drift values, whereas the addition of an adjuvant and the use of an air‐induction nozzle reduced drift <3 m aboveground.CONCLUSIONThe combination of using TB in the target area and ADCs in the off‐target area as an alternative method to determine residual droplets in the current airflow provided valuable insights into airborne drift assessment for UASS. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

show abstract

A Computational Framework for Precise Aerial Agricultural Spray Delivery Processes

Betancourt,

Li,

Mengi

et al. 2024

Arch Computat Methods Eng

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drift reduction in orchards through the use of an autonomous UAV system

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

Reducing environmental exposure to PPPs in super-high density olive orchards using UAV sprayers

Reducing environmental exposure to PPPs in super-high density olive orchards using UAV sprayers

Assessing the potential spray drift of a six‐rotor unmanned aerial vehicle sprayer using a test bench and airborne drift collectors under low wind velocities: impact of atomization characteristics and application parameters

A Computational Framework for Precise Aerial Agricultural Spray Delivery Processes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About