Effect of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight Height on Droplet Distribution, Drift and Control of Cotton Aphids and Spider Mites

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as emerging plant protection machinery, have the advantages of high operational efficiency, high speed, and low drift. The current study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of droplet distribution and drift, control efficiency on cotton aphids and spider mites, and attachment and absorption of cotton leaves during UAV spraying. Kromekote card and filter paper are used as samplers to collect droplets, and the droplet density, coverage rate, deposition, and drift percentage are statistically analyzed. The pooled results showed that the droplet uniformity, the droplet coverage rate, the deposition, and the drifting ability are higher when the UAV flight height was 2 m. The control effects by UAV spraying on cotton aphids and spider mites were 63.7% and 61.3%, respectively. These values are slightly inferior to those obtained through boom spraying. Cotton leaf attachment and absorption of spirodiclofen after UAV spraying were slightly lower than those after boom spraying, therefore, the control efficiency of cotton pests is slightly different. According to the different flight height operations by the UAV sprayer, the drift capability of the droplets at 2 m flight height was large, and the droplet uniformity and deposition were satisfactory. The research results could provide the theoretical basis and technical support for UAV operation.

[1]  I. W. Kirk.  AERIAL SPRAY DRIFT FROM DIFFERENT FORMULATIONS OF GLYPHOSATE , 2000 .

[2]  H. E. Ozkan,et al.  Dynamic air velocity and spray deposition inside dense nursery crops with a multi-jet air-assist sprayer , 2006 .

[3]  Bradley K. Fritz,et al.  AERIAL APPLICATION METHODS FOR INCREASING SPRAY DEPOSITION ON WHEAT HEADS , 2006 .

[4]  J. Ortiz-Cañavate,et al.  Short communication. Performance of pneumatic spraying with an over-the-row sprayer in high density apple tree orchards , 2006 .

[5]  I. W. Kirk.  Measurement and Prediction of Atomization Parameters from Fixed-Wing Aircraft Spray Nozzles , 2007 .

[6]  R. C. Derksen,et al.  Determining the Influence of Spray Quality, Nozzle Type, Spray Volume, and Air-Assisted Application Strategies on Deposition of Pesticides in Soybean Canopy , 2008 .

[7]  R. C. Derksen,et al.  Influence of Spray Volume on Spray Deposition and Coverage within Nursery Trees , 2008 .

[8]  The Determination of Acetamiprid Residues in Pear by GC , 2009 .

[9]  Steven J. Thomson,et al.  Characterization of spray deposition and drift from a low drift nozzle for aerial application at different application altitudes , 2011 .

[10]  Development and experiment of automatic detection device for infrared target , 2012 .

[11]  Song Jianli,et al.  Influence of spraying parameters of unmanned aircraft on droplets deposition. , 2012 .

[12]  E. Hilz,et al.  Spray drift review: The extent to which a formulation can contribute to spray drift reduction , 2013 .

[13]  Enrique Moltó,et al.  Description of the airflow produced by an air-assisted sprayer during pesticide applications to citrus , 2015 .

[14]  Rodolfo G. Chechetto,et al.  Assessing the deposition and canopy penetration of nozzles with different spray qualities in an oat (Avena sativa L.) canopy , 2016 .

[15]  Xin-Yu Xue,et al.  Droplet deposition and control effect of insecticides sprayed with an unmanned aerial vehicle against plant hoppers , 2016 .

[16]  Wang Xiaonan,et al.  Performances evaluation of four typical unmanned aerial vehicles used for pesticide application in China , 2017 .

[17]  D. S. Jaccoud-Filho,et al.  Effect of spray droplet size, spray volume and fungicide on the control of white mold in soybeans , 2017 .

[18]  E. Gil,et al.  Advances in developing a new test method to assess spray drift potential from air blast sprayers , 2017 .

[19]  Tan Yu,et al.  Modelling operation parameters of UAV on spray effects at different growth stages of corns , 2017 .

[20]  Xiongkui He,et al.  Testing method and distribution characteristics of spatial pesticide spraying deposition quality balance for unmanned aerial vehicle , 2018 .