Enhancing Spray Drift Deposition Analysis: Towards Real-Time Estimation through Resistive Measurements and Optical Tracers

The assessment of the deposited plant protection products (PPPs) is important for resource management as well as the prevention of off-target area contamination. Nevertheless, it poses significant challenges, not only in the field but also under controlled conditions. As a matter of fact, the standard methodologies to objectively compare the functional performance of sprayers require large amounts of time, and the results are not always repeatable. One of the major obstacles is the timely estimation of the deposited material, as real time assessment is ideally required. In this work, we propose an innovative approach based on resistive measurements to address this challenge effectively. Our method utilizes screen printed electrodes integrated onto the material collector for accurate and real-time measurement of the deposited material. By leveraging resistive measurement techniques, we achieve a precise estimation of the deposited plant protection products. Our experimental results demonstrate an overall estimation error of less than 5%, highlighting the reliability and accuracy of our approach. This real-time assessment capability offers substantial benefits for either laboratory testing of machines, in-field resource management and environmental monitoring, with the potential to enable prompt decision-making and mitigation strategies.