https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2019.853

Testing a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle for spray application in high slope terraced vineyard

Vol. 50 No. 1 (2019)
Submitted: 7 March 2018
Accepted: 31 July 2018
Published: 23 April 2019
Drone, droplet coverage, unmanned aerial vehicle, precision agriculture, pesticide, unmanned aerial vehicles application in agriculture.
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Authors

Daniele Sarri
daniele.sarri@unifi.it
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Systems, University of Florence, Italy.
Luisa Martelloni
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Systems, University of Florence, Italy.
Marco Rimediotti
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Systems, University of Florence, Italy.
Riccardo Lisci
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Systems, University of Florence, Italy.
Stefania Lombardo
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Systems, University of Florence, Italy.
Marco Vieri
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Systems, University of Florence, Italy.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being increasingly used for the spraying of pesticides for crop protection in complex geographic terrains that are not easily accessible by operators. This experiment was conducted to investigate the sprayer performance of a commercial UAV, equipped with different types of nozzles, and compare this new technology with the sprayers usually used on small size mountain vineyards (i.e. a knapsack sprayer and a sprayer gun). Field tests were conducted in a small high slope terraced vineyard. The operative parameters of the sprayers were calculated. Data on droplet coverage, density and size were collected by using water sensitive papers attached with clips to the leaves and analysed. The results showed that the working capacity of the UAV was 2-fold that of the sprayer gun 1.6-fold that of the knapsack sprayer. Droplet coverage, density and size were variable and affected by the position of the targets (water sensitive papers) and the type of sprayer used.

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How to Cite

Sarri, D., Martelloni, L., Rimediotti, M., Lisci, R., Lombardo, S. and Vieri, M. (2019) “Testing a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle for spray application in high slope terraced vineyard”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 50(1), pp. 38–47. doi: 10.4081/jae.2019.853.

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