A test bench for the classification of boom sprayers according to drift risk

The proposed International Standard draft [ISO TC 23/SC 06 DIS 22369. Equipment for crop protection—drift classification of sprayers and nozzles.] to classify sprayers according to drift risk requires the sprayer to be operated in the field in well defined conditions of wind [ISO TC 23/SC 06 N 22866. Equipment for crop protection—methods for the field measurement of spray drift.]. The aim was to find an alternative sprayer classification procedure which did not require operation in stable wind conditions. A test bench system was developed to measure the potential drift generated by boom sprayers Experiments have assessed the ability of the system to discriminate the potential drift generated by different configurations of a conventional boom sprayer and to evaluate the influence of air temperature on the results.