Harold Thistle, Richard Reardon, Milton Teske, Brian Richardson, Gerry Cormier, Dave Davies, Scott Cameron, Andrew hewitt, Monique LeClerc, Anandakumar Karipot
USDA Forest Service,

SERG Project #2002/03
Year of Project: 2002
Paper Published: 2005

High frequency data associated with accurate DGPS systems are available to improve understanding of deposition variability in aerial spraying. As environmental and economic presure to minimize the amounts of pest control agents used increases, variability in cobverage may result in insufficient coverage on parts of the target area as application rates are reduced. This can result in reservoir areas of surviving pests. Recently collected data sets include modern DGPS, flow controllers, laser altimeters and rotary atomizers all monitores and logged at high frequency. High frequency meteorological measurements were also collected along with dense spatial sampling of deposition. Variability of such critical parameters as release height, application rate and wind speed is large. The variability in release parameters along a single line can lead to a 30% change in deposition. Modeled values are compared to field data to illustarte deposition variability. Finally, time varying three dimensional approached are discussed and preliminary graphical results are shown.