A coupled atomization-spray drift model as online support tool for boom spray applications

Abstract

The effectiveness of agrochemical products strongly depends on the capability of the atomized droplets to reach the target site in the desired amount. Spray drift is the movement of droplets downwind of the target area, and its minimization is a growing concern to ensure operator health, protect the environment, achieve efficient crop protection and transform the spraying of phytosanitary products into a sustainable activity. In this contribution, a coupled atomization-spray drift model suitable for different types of nozzles is developed and validated against experimental data. Particularly, the article focuses on providing a simple simulation tool, based on a minimum number of input data that are easily accessable to predict the ground deposition spray drift of a nozzle. It was found that the atomized droplets size distribution can be accurately predicted just as a function of the median volumetric diameter, which was successfully estimated as a function of spray pressure, nozzle nominal flowrate and spray angle (commonly known data). Besides, the proposed model, based on bivariate probability density functions, is able to accurately represent different physical phenomena using a low number of calculations. Its implementation is possible using low-resource computing systems as required for sprayer on-board software tools.