DRAFT
The following steps describe the calibration procedure in detail:
1.Establish the average forward speed of the sprayer. The most accurate means of assessing the speed is to drive the sprayer in the actual crop. The speed can than be calculated from the time to cover a measured distance.
2.Establish the width of the swath of spray on the target. In row and broadacre crops this will be proportional to the boom width. In orchard, vineyard and soft fruit spraying this can be determined by the row spacing and the number of rows sprayed at a time.
3.Calculate the area treated by the sprayer per minute. As an example, Fig 9 shows the sprayer being operated over a field crop.
If the sprayer is being driven at S km/hr this corresponds to 1000 x S metres/hour:
Distance travelled = | 1000 x S metres/minute |
| 60 |
If the width of the swath is W metres, then the area treated per minute is:
Area treated | = | 1000 x S x W metres 2 /minute |
|
| 60 |
SPEED S KM/HR
DISTANCE TRAVELLED
IN ONE MINUTE
SWATH WIDTH
W METRES
Figure 9. Coverage of sprayer
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