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Aerial Adulticide Application

While the primary objective at GCMCD is to eliminate mosquito populations in their larval stage, it is impossible to find and target all water sources which can contain them.  With a district size of 540 square miles, it only takes a location the size of a five-gallon bucket to produce thousands of mosquitoes in a season. 

To eliminate these adult mosquitoes, the GCMCD can deploy its modified Cessna 337E Skymaster.  The onboard delivery system features an internal tank and two wing-mounted rotary atomizers with dedicated pumps.  Products containing active ingredients such as Sumithrin, Prallethrin, Piperonyl Butoxide, Etofenprox, and natural Pyrethrin can be applied at ultra-low volumes to knock down adult mosquito populations for large areas while being very safe to non-target organisms.  

Internal Spray Tank

Micronair AU4000 Atomizer (back)

 

AIMS 20 Weather Data Probe (front)

Field surveillance is conducted throughout the district to determine when and where large populations of adult mosquitoes exist.  When mosquito populations meet or exceed the thresholds contained in our Integrated Pest Management plan, an adulticide mission is generated using our computer-based GIS program.  The data is then loaded onto our Ag Nav GUIA system, which provides navigation guidance for the pilots.  Coupled with the onboard Aims 20 weather probe and a customized drift model, the Ag Nav provides drift offsetting based on the current winds aloft at the time of application.  

An example of an adulticide mission with drift model calculating where the pilot should begin and end the spray event.

During the application, ground personnel place rotary impingers to collect droplets for post-application analysis.  GCMCD continuously monitors and evaluates performance.  Changes are made to future flight profiles based on the data collected to maintain effective use of district resources.

Rotary Impinger

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