Aerial applicators test spray patterns
Aerial applicators test spray patterns
Pilots fly over field, release fluorescent dye
MOSES LAKE — For several moments, at just the right angle, the sky looked a particular hue of pink.
At least, out at the Moses Lake Municipal Airport it did.
That's where members of the Association of Washington Aerial Applicators tested their spray patterns. Ten planes were expected to fly from Moses Lake Air Service over a field where a string lay stretched.
The planes passed over the field several times, releasing 100 gallons of water containing a water-soluble fluorescent dye over roughly 130 feet of a special type of string which absorbs the dye.
"The main thing we're trying to do here is check the plane spray patterns, so we know how well of a job they're doing so they can reduce drift and so that they can make sure the material they apply gets onto the ground efficiently, effectively," explained University of Idaho Extension Farm Safety Specialist Tom Karsky. "So that they're going to be doing the best possible job they can during their spraying operation."
Pilots would make adjustments to their pressures and nozzles as they fly in, utilizing information gathered from the string and from a videotape of the flights.
Karsky and Washington State University Pesticide Education Specialist Carol Ramsay explained the testing is part of national program Operation SAFE, which stands for Self-Regulating Application and Flight Efficiency.
Once the sample is obtained, Ramsay and Karsky ran the string through a fluorometer, which analyzed the amount of fluorescence on the string, determining the spray pattern.
"It puts it on a printout, and it tells us what our pattern's doing, and then if we need to make any adjustments, we make adjustments and then we do it again," explained Fred Meise, representative of Pacific Northwest Aerial Applicators Association and coordinator of the testing. "We try to do it annually, but it just depends on how it works out. It depends on the weather."
In five to six years, Meise said, testing of spray patterns may be required by chemical labels.
"We don't have to do it now," he said. "But it helps us figure out our patterns, perfect them, make them better."
Meise added the event makes for a good promotion of the industry.
Fred's wife, Darla Meise, executive secretary of the Association of Washington Aerial Applicators, said the reason for the testing is overall betterment of the business, providing a quicker option for better agricultural products.
"One of the things I find is people, when they see the planes, because they're loud and they're large, they think that they're coming after them like a giant swarm of locusts," Darla said.
Fred agreed, and said the event allows people to learn more about the airplanes and the work of aerial applicators.
"We're here for agriculture, we're not out polluting things," he said. "Most people just driving down the freeway, they think that. They think, oh, we're bad, but no, we're essential in agriculture. We can get across the fields fast."
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