Introduction Most operators assume drone swath widths are wide, stable, and predictable. That confidence generally comes from three places: But drones move through space and time; spray patterns evolve as they fly. What you think is happening in the two seconds you glance up is not what’s happening over a 50 metre pass. The following […]
Read More… from The Hidden Shape of a Drone’s Spray Swath: What 2-D Imagery Reveals
Introduction We conducted a series of drone deposition studies with three main objectives: We wanted to: The four swath width measurement methods were: Assuming a trapezoidal-shaped spray swath, the Effective Swath Width (ESW) can be roughly defined as the span between two points that represent 1/2 of the average maximum deposit density. The idea is […]
The Hypothesis The results of a recent herbicide deposition study performed with the DJI T100 led us to observe that after ~13 m/s, swath width and drift were no longer directly related to travel speed; They appeared unaffected. The result was completely unexpected as it was counter to several years of prior study with smaller […]
Read More… from The Carvalho Boom and the Stages of Quadcopter Flight
Author’s note: Minor edits were made to this article on December 12, 2025. While the results remain unchanged, aspects of the interpretation have been adjusted upon reflection. In 2024, Corteva conducted a study entitled “Drone-Delivered Herbicides: Comparing LontrelTM XC (Clopyralid) Efficacy Across Application Techniques and Water Volumes”. Go read all about it here. Their objective […]
Read More… from Exploring the accuracy of drone-applied herbicide treatments
This work was performed with contributions from Adrian Rivard (Drone Spray Canada) and Adam Pfeffer (Bayer Crop Science – funding partner). Dr. Tom Wolf is gratefully acknowledged for his editorial support and assistance interpreting the results. Introduction This research is part of a continuing effort to identify best practices for broad acre crop protection using […]