Nebraska App: UNL Ground Spray Estimates Droplet Size
Understanding droplet size from pesticide applications is critical for growers and professional applicators to make the best decision for maximizing pesticide efficacy while minimizing drift potential. The droplet size and spray quality of a pesticide application can be influenced by a variety of factors, including nozzle type, orifice size, operating pressure, and chemistries of the tank-mixtures. Growers and pesticide applicators have numerous choices in regards to these factors, but it is difficult to obtain accurate and timely information on these factors’ cumulative effect on the droplet size and spray spectrum. To aid growers and applicators in this regard, a custom iPhone and Android application (app) has been created and published. This free tool will allow the user to quickly determine the droplet size and quality of an application with user-defined parameters. Ground Spray also allows the user to save and/or send the results to another party in real time. As the database for the app grows, it will further aid the end users across the US and the world to make an informed decision before making a pesticide application.
Purpose of App: To assist pesticide applicators making ground applications with decisions relating to droplet size and potential for "off-target" movement of pesticides.
Description: The app uses information generated in the wind tunnels at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's West Central Research and Extension Center at North Platte. The app calculates the size of spray droplets generated from various spray nozzles at various pressures using different spray solutions. Pesticide applicators can plug in application parameters for their pesticide applications and get the droplet size range that would be produced. Once they have the droplet size information, they can estimate the potential for drift and adjust their application parameters appropriately.
Fit for Nebraska: This droplet size calculator pertains to every pesticide applicator in the US who is using commonly used hydraulic nozzles for self-propelled, pull-behind, or tractor mounted sprayers. The application allows for rapid assessment of the potential for drift. Spray applicators with pressure nozzles that are producing a lot of small fines (with a high potential for drift) can use the app to find other combinations which would produce fewer fines. The application is a unique tool to assess droplet size and drift potential and rapidly allows the researchers to provide pesticide applicators with the most current information available.
Web based spray droplet calculator with graphing capabilities