چکیده :
In order to protect water and other sensitive areas from spray drift, and make the best use of mitigation
measures, an evaluation of drift risk should be made prior to a spray application. The objective of this
work was to develop a practical, interactive tool to evaluate the risk of spray drift for specific weather
and field situation, and propose effective measures to mitigate this risk. This should help the pesticide
user to make better decisions in order to reduce potential spray drift contamination. The Drift Evaluation
Tool (DET) is intended to be used by the pesticide users and advisors, and hence raise their awareness on
the effect of factors influencing spray drift and on mitigation measures to reduce drift risk. The aim was to
offer a simple and practical application software that would be user-friendly and educative to encourage
its wide use. The operator communicates with the software via its simple and intuitive visual interface.
He is guided through three pages and asked to select in the proposed lists of options the parameters that
best reflect his actual situation. On the first page the user determines the application site: within or
beyond the zone of awareness (buffer zone plus boom width), i.e. whether or not risk of drift need to
be considered. On the next page he determines actual weather and field conditions: wind direction
and velocity, air temperature and humidity, crop height and adjacent structures. Once the items are
selected the Drift Risk Value SITUATION (%) (DRVS) is calculated and expressed both in figure and graphically.
Thus, the user can see directly how variations in weather and field conditions may affect the spray
drift risk. Depending on the risk level appropriate practical recommendation appears on the screen.