Flying Lower, Drifting Less: Reducing Pesticide Drift Through Agricultural Drone Flight Height
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
In Person or Zoom Presentation
In-Person
Campus
Daytona Beach
Status
Student
Faculty/Staff Department
Honors
Student Year and Major
Sophomore, Aeronautical Science
Presentation Description/Abstract
Pesticide drift from spraying crops can move chemicals beyond the intended application area, potentially harming crops, ecosystems, water sources, and communities. As uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) become more common in farming, improving pesticide application precision is increasingly important. Optimizing UAS flight height can help reduce environmental impacts while maintaining effective crop coverage.
This project will examine how drone spraying height influences pesticide drift and identify recommended operating heights that balance crop coverage with minimizing off-target movement. In a study by Sinha et al. (2022), average ground drift increased from 2.09% at a flight height of 1.5 m to 7.03% at 4.0 m. In contrast, a study examining UAV spraying in cashew orchards identified an optimal flight height of 7 m for spray performance.
The project will compare these studies by examining flight height, flight speed, droplet size, wind conditions, spray deposition, and measured drift. These factors influence pesticide movement and application effectiveness. A decision matrix will compare pesticide drift, droplet deposition, and spray distribution uniformity at different flight heights to determine which operating conditions provide the best balance between minimizing off-target movement and maintaining effective crop coverage. Because the studies examine different crops and spraying conditions, their findings will be evaluated within their respective experimental settings rather than assuming one optimal height applies universally.
By applying aviation knowledge of aircraft positioning, flight operations, and weather conditions, this research will develop recommendations for agricultural UAS spraying that reduce unnecessary pesticide exposure and support more sustainable crop protection methods.
Keywords
Pesticide drift, Agricultural drones, Uncrewed aircraft systems, UAS, Flight height, Pesticide application, Precision agriculture, Sustainability
Flying Lower, Drifting Less: Reducing Pesticide Drift Through Agricultural Drone Flight Height
Pesticide drift from spraying crops can move chemicals beyond the intended application area, potentially harming crops, ecosystems, water sources, and communities. As uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) become more common in farming, improving pesticide application precision is increasingly important. Optimizing UAS flight height can help reduce environmental impacts while maintaining effective crop coverage.
This project will examine how drone spraying height influences pesticide drift and identify recommended operating heights that balance crop coverage with minimizing off-target movement. In a study by Sinha et al. (2022), average ground drift increased from 2.09% at a flight height of 1.5 m to 7.03% at 4.0 m. In contrast, a study examining UAV spraying in cashew orchards identified an optimal flight height of 7 m for spray performance.
The project will compare these studies by examining flight height, flight speed, droplet size, wind conditions, spray deposition, and measured drift. These factors influence pesticide movement and application effectiveness. A decision matrix will compare pesticide drift, droplet deposition, and spray distribution uniformity at different flight heights to determine which operating conditions provide the best balance between minimizing off-target movement and maintaining effective crop coverage. Because the studies examine different crops and spraying conditions, their findings will be evaluated within their respective experimental settings rather than assuming one optimal height applies universally.
By applying aviation knowledge of aircraft positioning, flight operations, and weather conditions, this research will develop recommendations for agricultural UAS spraying that reduce unnecessary pesticide exposure and support more sustainable crop protection methods.
Comments
Sinha, R., Johnson, J., Power, K., Moodie, A., Warhurst, E., & Barbosa, R. (2022). Understanding spray attributes of commercial UAAS as impacted by operational and design parameters. Drones, 6(10), 281. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6100281
Manjunatha, K., Savadi, S., Anilkumar, C., Adiga, J. D., Venkatesh, E., K., V., & Sushilendra, S. (2026). Effects of flight height, flight speed and spray volume of a UAV based spraying system on droplet deposition in cashew trees. Results in Engineering, 29, 109786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2026.109786