Development and assessment of a novel servo-controlled spraying system for real time adjustment of the orientation angle of the nozzles of a boom sprayer

Background

Pesticide spray drift, which is the movement of pesticide by wind to any location other than the intended area, is hazardous to human, animal, food safety and environmental health. It is not possible to completely eliminate spray drift during spraying with field crop sprayers, but spray drift can be reduced by developing new technologies. The most common methods to reduce spray drift are carrying the droplets to the target with air-assisted spraying, electrostatic spraying, preferring air induction nozzles and boom shields. With these methods, it is not possible to make a change on the sprayer depending on the wind intensity during spraying. In this study, a novel servo-controlled spraying system was designed and developed to change the nozzle orientation angle in the reverse direction of the wind current to reduce the ground spray drift in real time and automatically in a wind tunnel. The displacement in the spray pattern (D_c) was used as a ground drift indicator for each nozzle to evaluate the spray drift.

Results

The developed system, operated by LabVIEW software, calculated different nozzle orientation angles depending on nozzle types, wind velocities and spraying pressures. Orientation angles calculated for different test conditions achieved in reduction were up to 49.01% for XR11002 nozzle, 32.82% for AIXR11002 nozzle and 32.31% for TTJ6011002 nozzle at 400 kPa spray pressure and 2.5 m s⁻¹ wind velocity.

Conclusion

The developed system, which has a self-decision mechanism, calculated the nozzle orientation angle instantaneously according to the wind velocity. It has been observed that the adjustable spraying nozzle system, sprayed with high precision towards the wind in the wind tunnel, and the developed system have advantages compared to conventional spraying systems. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Efficacy of four corn (Zea mays L.) herbicides when applied with flat fan and air induction nozzles

Twelve field experiments were conducted over a 4 year (2002–2005) period to determine the influence of the herbicide dose, nozzle type, spray volume, and spray pressure on herbicide efficacy in field corn ( Zea mays L.). The control of Abutilon theophrasti (velvetleaf ), Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed), Chenopodium album (common lambsquarters), Amaranthus powellii (green pigweed), and Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass) was improved with the use of full herbicide doses compared to half doses of bromoxynil, glufosinate, dicamba, and nicosulfuron. The yield was increased for bromoxynil, glufosinate, and nicosulfuron when the full herbicide dose was used. When applied at the manufacturer's recommended dose, flat fan nozzles, compared to air induction (AI) nozzles, provided better control of A. theophrasti , A. artemisiifolia , and C. album with bromoxynil, A. artemisiifolia and C. album with dicamba, and E. crus-galli with nicosulfuron. Bromoxynil, in relation to weed control, was the only herbicide that was affected by the water carrier volume. By increasing the spray pressure with an AI nozzle, there was an improvement in the control of A. theophrasti , A. artemisiifolia, and C. album with the application of bromoxynil and E. crus-galli with the application of nicosulfuron, with a yield increase with bromoxynil. Overall, this study concludes that the optimum nozzle type, water carrier volume, and spray pressure is herbicide- and weed species-specific.     

Flat fan and air induction nozzles affect soybean herbicide efficacy

Fifteen field experiments were conducted from 2002 to 2005 to determine the influence of the nozzle type, spray volume, spray pressure, and herbicide rate on herbicidal efficacy in soybean. There was no effect of the nozzle type on herbicidal efficacy with fomesafen, bentazon, glyphosate, and cloransulam‐methyl when applied at the manufacturer's recommended rate. The control of Echinochloa crus‐galli (barnyardgrass) with quizalofop‐p‐ethyl was improved when applied with flat fan (FF) nozzles compared with air induction (AI) nozzles. There was an increase in weed control with the FF nozzles compared with the AI nozzles in four of the 13 comparisons when the herbicides were applied at half the recommended rate, while in two situations, application with the AI nozzles resulted in improved weed control. With the FF nozzles, there was no effect of the water carrier volume on weed control with bentazon, glyphosate, and cloransulam‐methyl. The control of Abutilon theophrasti (velvetleaf) and Chenopodium album (common lambsquarters) with fomesafen and E. crus‐galli with quizalofop‐p‐ethyl was improved at the higher water carrier volume. With the AI nozzles, the control of A. theophrasti and Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) with fomesafen and E. crus‐galli with quizalofop‐p‐ethyl was improved at the higher water carrier volume, while the control of A. theophrasti and Polygonum persicaria (ladysthumb) was improved with glyphosate at the lower water carrier volume. With the AI nozzles, the control of C. album with bentazon and E. crus‐galli with quizalofop‐p‐ethyl was improved at the higher spray pressure. There was no effect of the nozzle type on the soybean yield with glyphosate, cloransulam‐methyl, and quizalofop‐p‐ethyl. The use of the FF nozzles compared with the AI nozzles to apply fomesafen and bentazon increased the soybean yield by 6 and 7%, respectively. Based on this study, the optimum nozzle type, water carrier volume, and spray pressure is herbicide‐ and weed species‐specific.     

Multiple nozzles for producing small drops in a mist-blower spray machine

The biological effectiveness of deposits of binapacryl applied by a single high pressure nozzle was compared with similar deposits applied by twin low-pressure nozzles. Equal foliar deposit densities were obtained from the two systems but the single nozzles gave marginally better control of apple powdery mildew and fruittree red spider mite.     

风洞环境下喷头及助剂对植保无人飞机喷雾飘移性的影响

为探究和减少植保无人飞机喷雾施药过程中的雾滴飘移,采用由单个旋翼与喷头组成的喷雾单元,在可控风洞环境条件下进行了模拟飞行喷雾试验,控制风洞条件为风速5 m/s、喷雾压力0.3 MPa及旋翼转速2300 r/min不变,对比研究了11种喷头、4种代表性助剂以及不同温度/相对湿度条件对雾滴飘移的影响,采用飘移潜在指数(DIX)及相对减飘率(DPRP)两项指标进行对比评估。结果表明:在温度/相对湿度为20℃/RH 80%条件下,不同类型喷头喷雾药液在空中垂直面和水平距离上的飘移沉积量分布均呈现显著的规律性变化趋势,与对照喷头F110-03相比,喷头飘移潜在性从大到小依次为:TR80-0067>ST110-0067>XR110-01>ST110-015>TR80-01>ST110-02>XR110-03>对照F110-03>IDK系列,其中IDK120-01与IDK120-015喷头的减飘移效果相近并为最好;在30℃/RH 40%条件下,采用XR110-01喷头,分别添加助剂0.5%Silwet DRS-60、1.0%"迈飞"(MF)和1.0%Y-20079后,与不添加助剂的对照相比,平均减飘率分别为43.3%、15.6%和5.2%,表明不同助剂对飘移的影响不同,需考虑助剂类型及其减飘效果合理选用;在20℃/RH 40%、20℃/RH 80%、30℃/RH 40%和30℃/RH 60%条件下,XR110-01喷头与添加1.0%MF助剂组合有利于空中飘移的减少,尤其是高温/低湿条件下,添加助剂的减飘移效果较好。该研究结果可为植保无人飞机的喷头选择、喷雾助剂筛选和实际应用提供参考和指导,并为进一步研究喷头及助剂的减飘技术提供数据基础。     

锡林郭勒典型草原区平坦草地风雪流结构特征

通过对锡林郭勒典型草原区平坦草地积雪全覆盖状况下风雪流野外观测,分析了近地表100 cm高度内的风雪流结构。结果表明:风雪流结构表现为移雪强度随距离雪面高度增加而急剧减弱。风雪流活动范围随着2 m处风速增强而逐步增大。风雪流结构函数在低风速条件下(4~7 m·s~(-1))符合对数函数关系衰减,高风速条件下(8 m·s~(-1))呈幂函数关系衰减;风雪流搬运高度主要集中在近地表20 cm范围内,该高度内移雪量达到总移雪量的80%以上;近地表100 cm高度范围内的平均移雪强度与2 m处风速符合极显著的幂函数关系,关系式为Q=3.378 6×10~(-7)·V~(5.5390)(P0.001,R~2=0.972 9)。近地表风速的增加,会导致风雪流搬运能力的急剧增强。相关结论可为典型草原区风雪流防治提供理论依据。     

Comparison of the effectiveness of standard and drift-reducing nozzles for control of some winter wheat diseases

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Field experiments were conducted over three consecutive growing seasons (20042–2006) to determine the effect of use of drift-reducing nozzles (ISO...     

Comparison of collectors of airborne spray drift. Experiments in a wind tunnel and field measurements

BACKGROUND: In this study, the collecting efficiency of different samplers of airborne drift was compared both in wind tunnel and in field experiments. The aim was to select an appropriate sampler for collecting airborne spray drift under field conditions. RESULTS: The wind tunnel study examined three static samplers and one dynamic sampler. The dynamic sampler had the highest overall collecting efficiency. Among the static samplers, the pipe cleaner collector had the highest efficiency. These two samplers were selected for evaluation in the subsequent field study. Results from 29 individual field experiments showed that the pipe cleaner collector on average had a 10% lower collecting efficiency than the dynamic sampler. However, the deposits on the pipe cleaners generally were highest at the 0.5 m level, and for the dynamic sampler at the 1 m level. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded from the wind tunnel part of the study that the amount of drift collected on the static collectors had a more strongly positive correlation with increasing wind speed compared with the dynamic sampler. In the field study, the difference in efficiency between the two types of collector was fairly small. As the difference in collecting efficiency between the different types of sampler was small, the dynamic sampler was selected for further measurements of airborne drift under field conditions owing to its more well‐defined collecting area. This study of collecting efficiency of airborne spray drift of static and dynamic samplers under field conditions contributes to increasing knowledge in this field of research. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

沙漠地区风沙活动特征——以中国科学院风沙观测场为例

运用中国科学院风沙科学观测场的实测资料,对腾格里沙漠风沙环境特征进行初步分析,内容包括起沙风、风沙活动强度、风沙流结构和沙漠边界层的风速廓线.该地区的起沙风以6～8 m/s为主,占总起沙风的71.63%,其次为8～10 m/s,占19.24%,两者之和占90.87%;大风日数为4天;风向以W-N组风向为主;占全年的53.14%.年输沙势为36.56VU,风能属于低风能环境,单一主风向和单风态风环境.风沙流主要集中在地表的0.1 m,占总输沙量的95.46%.观测场近地层厚度大于50 m.     

Field experiments to assess approaches for spray drift incident investigation

BACKGROUND: Spray trials were conducted to determine the variation in primary spray drift deposition between trials under very similar conditions, in order to assess the feasibility of developing a computational tool to aid post‐event investigations of pesticide spray incidents. Pesticide deposition was examined by analysis of filter paper and vegetation samples. RESULTS: Considerable variation in the drift profile was found. The overall estimate of the spray drift decay term was ?1.13 (95% confidence interval ?1.02 to ?1.24), with statistically significant differences between plots. Variation in the drift profile between neighbouring essentially identical plots indicates the variation in deposition that might be expected over small distances. Vegetation samples were found to have considerably lower capture efficiency than filter papers. Importantly, degradation of pesticides was found to have little effect on the pesticide drift profile over a 14 day period. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of spatial variation in spray drift deposits between runs and plots observed in this study suggest serious limitations to the inferences that may be drawn from limited numbers of post‐incident samples. In particular, they would limit inferences about the spray conditions that could be drawn from an estimate of the drift profile derived from limited post‐incident samples. © Crown copyright 2009. Reproduced with permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Published by John W iley & Sons, Ltd.     

艾比湖地区的输沙势分析

利用艾比湖地区 5个气象站 196 1- 2 0 0 1年的观测资料分析输沙势变化 ,结果表明 :(1)艾比湖地区合成输沙势春季最大 ,平均是 131.4VU ,夏季次之 ,是 89.9VU ,冬季最小 ,是 4 5 .4VU。四季合成输沙势在 2 0世纪 6 0年代最大 ,90年代最小 ;春季、冬季从 6 0～ 90年代一直减小 ;夏季、秋季在 80年代有次高出现。各季的最大值出现年代不同 ,最小值均出现在 90年代 ;(2 )年合成输沙势从 6 0 - 90年代减小 ,80年代中期到 90年代减小较快 ,最大值是 1977年的 12 4 .3VU ,最小值是 1999年的 4 5 .8VU ,平均是 87.7VU ;(3)沙尘暴、扬沙在 6 0 - 70年代年出现日数较多 ,70年代中期达到最多 ,随后开始下降 ,90年代初达到最少 ,之后 ,稍有增大。     

Glyphosate reduces urediniospore development and Puccinia psidii disease severity on Eucalyptus grandis

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown the effects of glyphosate drift on decreasing rust intensity on Eucalyptus grandis plants. However, the effects of the herbicide on Puccinia psidii initial development are unknown. In this study the systemic action of glyphosate on rust severity was evaluated on Eucalyptus plants maintained under greenhouse conditions. Urediniospore germination and apressorium formation on detached leaves and on water agar medium, previously treated with glyphosate, were also evaluated. RESULTS: Rust severity and the number of urediniospores per leaf area were significantly reduced with increasing glyphosate doses, even on branches not directly treated with the herbicide, indicating a systemic effect of glyphosate on pathogen development. Similarly, higher glyphosate doses also reduced germination and apressorium formation on detached Eucalyptus leaves, regardless of the direct application of the product on the leaf limb or on the petiole base. Puccinia psidii urediniospore germination in water agar medium also decreased with increasing herbicide doses. CONCLUSIONS: Reductions in germination and apressorium formation of P. psidii urediniospores with increasing glyphosate dose indicate that a lower severity and intensity of the disease may perhaps be due to blockage of the shikimic acid pathway in the fungal metabolic system. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Field experiments for the evaluation of pesticide spray-drift on arable crops

Two distinct approaches were used to characterise spray-drift during the application of atrazine and alachlor to a maize crop. The first consisted in determining the quantities which did not reach their target. A first experiment was carried in 2001 to improve the sampling method. A second experiment in 2002 showed that losses represented 46 and 38% for atrazine and alachlor, respectively. The second approach was to follow the spatiotemporal evolution of the cloud formed during application. The concentrations observed near the application zone during spraying reached 4.5 microg m(-3) for atrazine and 8.5 microg m(-3) for alachlor. With alachlor these concentrations decreased rapidly when increasing distance from the plot or time following treatment, whereas in the case of atrazine they stabilised rapidly (between 0.5 and 0.3 microg m(-3)) both in space and in time. Deposits around the plot were light and slightly higher for alachlor (from 20 to 130 microg m(-2)). Alachlor was more rapidly diluted in space than atrazine, reflecting a differentiated evolution of physical form during the process. Alachlor, being more volatile than atrazine, is quickly transferred to the gaseous phase which was more rapidly dispersed than aerosols.     

Buffer zone and windbreak effects on spray drift deposition in a simulated wetland

The amount of agricultural spray that drifts into a wetland from an adjacent crop field is influenced by vegetation along the field boundary or any intentional setback distance (buffer zone) between the sprayer and the edge of the arable field. In this study, spray tracer drift deposits were measured in a simulated wetland area under different conditions of wind speed and buffer zone width. The effect of an artificial windbreak at the upwind edge of the simulated wetland was also evaluated. A level of tolerance of 0.1% of the in-swath spray deposition was established as a no-effect level for the response of aquatic plants to common herbicides. Our results indicate that a vegetated 10-m field margin (eg a fencerow) alone provides adequate protection from herbicide drift into a wetland area under wind conditions normally considered acceptable for spraying. For high winds (> 4m s(-1)) when field spraying would not normally be advised, adequate protection was afforded by the same 10-m margin plus a dense windbreak (25% porosity) or by the margin plus a 20-m buffer zone.