• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.46-51
• /
• 2009

This paper presents results from field studies carried out to monitor off-target droplet movement of endosulfan insecticide applied to the Korea chestnut tree area. As a results, mean airborne drift values were recorded 25m as average from downwind of a single flight line(sample line) in mountain terrain and mean effective swath width was recorded 19.5m as average in a plain. In terms of characteristics of geography of Korea aerial application is mainly carried out in mountain terrain. The equipment, weather conditions, and appropriate aerial spray technic are required for effective aerial application. In particular, the pilot can get effective results when he only sprays with consideration of environment factors since there is much turbulence in mountain terrain. Eventually, the most effective factor of droplets drift is to estimate the local weather conditions exactly.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.215-223
• /
• 2010

In order to develop an precision aerial pesticide application system to be attached to an unmanned helicopter which can be applied to small lots of land, this study analyzed the flowing and spraying characteristics of the spray droplets by the main rotor downwash by setting the application conditions at the flight altitude of 3 m, the diameter of main rotor of 3.1 m, the boom length of around 2.8 m, and the spraying rate of 8 L/ha. The results of this study are summarized below. Through analysis of the covering area ratio of the spray droplets by main rotor downwash by nozzle type, boom with tilt angle and height, it was found that the covering area ratio of the twin flat-fan nozzle of around 25% was more uniform than other types of nozzle, also boom with $10^{\circ}$ tilt angle and spraying height of 3 m was shown to be the appropriate conditions for aerial application of pesticides. It was found that the nozzle position to minimize the scattering loss of spray droplets due to vortex phenomenon at both ends of the main rotor was around 10 cm from the end of the main rotor. An application test for the aerial pesticide application system attached to the HUA-ACEI unmanned helicopter developed by the Rural Development Administration showed that the range of covering area ratio of the spray droplets was 10-25%, and the spraying width was approximately 7 m when over 10% of covering area ratio was considered for valid spraying.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.66 no.5
• /
• pp.51-65
• /
• 2024

With the advancement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) technology, aerial spraying has been rapidly increasing in the agricultural field. Drones offer many advantages compared to traditional applicators, but they pose challenges such as spray drift risk and spray uniformity. To address these issues, it is essential to understand the characteristics of complex airflow generated by drones and its consequences for the spray performance. This study aims to identify the air velocity distribution of drone downwash and the resulting spray deposition distribution on the ground, ultimately proposing optimized spraying widths and criteria. Experiments were conducted using two agricultural drones with different propeller arrangements under various flight and measurement conditions. The results showed that during hovering, the downward airflow affected the area within a distance of the radius of the blade (R) from the center of the drone. When the drone was flying, the downward airflow was effective up to a distance of 2R. Droplet deposition was concentrated at the center of the drone during hovering. However, during flying, the droplet deposition was more evenly distributed up to the distance of R. The drone downwash and droplet deposition were significantly different during flying compared to the hovering state. At an effective spray width of 3R, the coefficient of variation (CV) was generally less than 16%, indicating a significant improvement in spray uniformity. These findings help optimize effective spraying techniques in drone-based applications.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
• /
• v.52 no.6
• /
• pp.111-125
• /
• 2018

In this study, we evaluated the uniformity of deposition rate and particle size distributions of the variable rate application technique using the unmanned rotorcraft by measuring the spray pattern according to path location in the range of spraying flight. The coefficient of variation (CV) of the lateral coverage rate for the overlapped distribution with the spray swath of 3.6 m in both guidance and auto-pilot flight modes maintaining constant flight speed was about 30% and the CV of the coverage rate by the flight path location was extremely small. Therefore, it was assessed that the variable rate application technology compensating for the variation of ground speed was superior in terms of spray uniformity. In addition, the droplet size distributions in both volume median diameter(VMD) and number median diameter(NMD) were adequate for aerial application and uniform in terms of lateral distribution. Thereafter, we intend to contribute to a precise application on small-scaled fields using the unmanned agricultural rotorcraft by the variable rate application.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.337-341
• /
• 2016

Purpose: Evaluation of atmospheric conditions for proper timing of spray application is important to prevent off-target movement of crop protection materials. Susceptible crops can be damaged downwind if proper application procedure is not followed. In our previous study, hourly data indicated unfavorable conditions, primarily between evening 18:00 hrs in the evening and 6:00 hrs next morning, during clear conditions in the hot summer months in the Mississippi delta. With the requirement of timely farm operations, sub-hourly data are required to provide better guidelines for pilots, as conditions of atmospheric stability can change rapidly. Although hourly data can be interpolated to some degree, finer resolution for data acquisition of the order of 15 min would provide pilots with more accurate recommendations to match the data recording frequency of local weather stations. Methods: In the present study, temperature and wind speed data obtained at a meteorological tower were re-sampled to calculate the atmospheric stability ratio for sub-hour and hourly recommendations. High-precision evaluation of temperature inversion periods influencing atmospheric stability was made considering strength, time of occurrence, and duration of temperature inversion. Results and Discussion: The results indicated that atmospheric stability could be determined at different time intervals providing consistent recommendations to aerial applicators, thereby avoiding temperature inversion with minimal off-target drift of the sprayed liquid.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.302-309
• /
• 2010

Aerial application using an unmanned agricultural helicopter would allow precise and timely spraying. The attitude of a helicopter depends on a number of dynamic variables for roll-balanced flight. Laterally tilting behavior of a helicopter is a physically intrinsic phenomenon while hovering and forwarding. In order to balance the fuselage, the rotor should be counter-tilted, resulting in the biased down-wash. The biased spraying toward right side causes uneven spray pattern. In this study, a raised tail rotor system for the roll-balanced helicopter was studied. Thrust of the tail rotor system was measured and theoretically estimated for the fundamental database of the roll-balanced helicopter design. The estimated tail thrust and roll-moment would be used to design the raising height of tail rotor and roll balancing dynamics. The unmanned agricultural helicopter required the tail rotor thrust of about 39.2 N (4.0 kgf) during hovering with a payload of 235.4 N (24 kgf). A raised tail rotor system would compensate for the physical tilt phenomena. A further attitude control system of helicopter would assist roll-balanced aerial spray application.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.59 no.3
• /
• pp.209-215
• /
• 2020

Debates over the ecological and public health impacts of aerial pesticide sprays are increasing. This is particularly true for controlling Monochamus beetles, which are vector insects of pinewood nematodes. In 2017, adult female orb-web spiders, Trichonephila clavata, were sampled from pine forests in Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea, where the aerial pesticide spray, fenitrothion or thiacloprid, was used for several decades. The biological traits of the spiders (body weight, body length, carapace width, and total hind leg length) were compared among treatment sites (no-spray, sprayed three times, and sprayed five times), and differences were observed. The body length, carapace width, and total hind leg length of the spiders in the sprayed areas were significantly shorter than in the no-spray area, but there were no differences between the area sprayed three or five times. These results indicate that repeated exposures to an aerial pesticide spray can alter morphological parameters, which influences population-level fitness. Future studies should monitor the spider long-term responses to pesticides (a direct effect) and prey availability (an indirect effect).

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.31 no.2 s.115
• /
• pp.95-101
• /
• 2006

Present chemical application system using a power sprayer has been a labor intensive, ineffective and shirking task in farming. Therefore, a small RF controlled (unmanned) helicopter was suggested to replace the conventional spray system. The aerial application using the unmanned helicopter has been already utilized in Japan, where total area applied up to 704,000 ha in 2005. In this article, the status and cost analysis on the unmanned agricultural helicopter were studied. The aerial application using the agricultural helicopter helps precise and timely spraying and reduces labor intensity and pollution. The field capacity of the helicopter was found to be 60-70 ha a day. The break even point was estimated near the operating area of 750 ha annum. The development of an agricultural helicopter was necessary for taking advantages of both technique and economy.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.342-351
• /
• 2012

Purpose: Aerial spraying with an agricultural unmanned helicopter became a new paradigm in the agricultural practice. Laterally tilting behavior of a conventional agricultural helicopter, resulting in the biased down-wash and uneven spray deposit is a physically intrinsic phenomenon while hovering and cruise flights. Authors studied and developed a roll-balanced agricultural helicopter with a raised pylon tail rotor system. In this study, the attitude of the roll-balanced helicopter was determined using the Kalman filter algorithm, and the quality of roll balancing of a bare-airframe helicopter was evaluated. Methods: Instantaneous attitudes were estimated using the advantage of gyroscope, followed by the long term correction and prediction using accelerometer data for the advantage of convergence. The attitudes of the fuselage were calculated by applying the Kalman filter algorithm. The spraying maneuver of the helicopter was performed at a field of 50 m long, and the attitude data were acquired and evaluated. Results: The determination of attitude using the inertial measurement unit(IMU) and Kalman filter was reliable and practical. The intrinsic attitude of the developed helicopter was stable and roll-balanced. The deviation of roll angle was ${\pm}6.3^{\circ}$ with an average of $0^{\circ}$, referring to roll-balanced. Conclusions: Handling quality of the roll attitude determined to be steadily balanced. The balancing behavior of the developed helicopter would result in an even spray pattern during aerial application.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.403-413
• /
• 2008

This study was conducted to select excellent tank mix combinations of pesticides for aerial application by manned helicopter. Among 209 pesticide combinations of 3-way tank-mixing for aerial application, a total of 93 recommendable combinations including tricyclazole SC+validamycin-A SL+imidacloprid SL were finally selected for the simultaneous control of key pests on paddy rice such as blast, sheath blight, brown planthopper and moth. The selected combinations were not phytotoxic to rice plants and nearby non-target crops, and excellent in physicochemical properties of ultra low volume (ULV) spray solutions. The efficacies on sheath blight, brown planthoppers and white-backed planthoppers of pesticides sprayed by aerial application were similar to those of pesticides by conventional spraying. Total cost of aerial application in paddy rice was very economical as one fourth level of that of conventional spraying.