Modern precision agricultural technologies available to aerial application were highlighted at a conference April 25–27 that was attended by people from a wide variety of organizations and backgrounds. The CropLife America and RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) Regulatory Conference is an annual conference that covers agricultural pesticide regulation and is attended by both industry and regulators. Industry was represented by major chemical manufacturers and other agricultural groups, while the regulating community was represented by the U.S. EPA, USDA, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

As part of the conference, a panel during the opening breakfast highlighted how precision agriculture technology plays an important role in a variety of ways in pesticide applications. NAAA worked to help provide two of the members for that panel to ensure the audience was aware of some of the advanced technologies available to aerial applicators. Bruce Woodcock of Aventech Research Inc. discussed the importance of monitoring weather conditions throughout an application and how the AIMMS system can provide that monitoring in ag aircraft. Jeff Grimm from Capstan Ag talked about how pulse width modulation technology is being developed for use on agricultural aircraft in order to improve spray pattern uniformity and mitigate drift.

Aventech and Capstan Ag also had tabletop exhibits at the conference so participants could see firsthand how their technology works. Woodcock displayed a mock cockpit/wing setup on which all of the AIMMS equipment was mounted. He was able to explain how the system measures multiple elements to provide the ag pilot with ongoing, inflight readings of wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity and atmospheric stability (whether or not an inversion is present). Grimm and Brian Finstrom from Capstan Ag had a mini aerial boom section that showed how the valves for their control system can be mounted on an ag aircraft. Conference attendees visited with the exhibitors during coffee breaks, but many attendees continued to discuss the aerial technologies rather than attend meeting sessions, a strong indication there was interest in learning more about the technologies.

Having the company representatives available throughout the day allowed attendees to ask more detailed questions and get a real feel for how these technologies work to ensure aerial applications are accurate and safe. This was particularly important for the regulators at the conference, as they do not have the same opportunities to learn about these technologies firsthand that attendees who work in agricultural industries have. One major question they had was “does this help reduce drift?” The ability to discuss this in person with regulators was important for ensuring they understand the technologies and techniques used by modern aerial applicators. NAAA was pleased to play a role in making sure aerial application was on display at CropLife America’s conference.

Emerging UAS Technology for Precision Ag

One of the conference sessions focused on emerging UAS technology for precision ag. The session was moderated by Tulinda Larsen, executive director of the Agricultural Aerial Remote Sensing Standards Council, and featured a panel of speakers who discussed the latest regulations, using UAS for precision agriculture and the outlook for UAS technology developments.

The panelists included Idaho farmer Robert Blair, an early adopter of precision ag technologies, Diana Cooper, PrecisionHawk’s senior vice president of policy & strategy, and Jim Williams, who founded JHW Unmanned Solutions after he left his post managing the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office.

From December 2015 to December 2017, one million drones were registered in the FAA’s drone registry. Yet for every drone that is registered, the expectation is another one is not, Larsen said, which would mean roughly 2 million drones should have been registered in 24 months. “This is by far in our lifetime the most dramatic change that has occurred to aviation since the jet engine, and we are at the very, very beginnings,” Larsen said.

Agriculture has always been seen as a major market for unmanned technologies, and Blair, who was named 2009 Precision Ag Farmer of the Year, has considered the possibilities more than most. He titled his presentation, “Surgical Agriculture: Going Beyond Precision.”

Blair runs a 1,300-acre farm in Kendrick, Idaho, and was the first farmer in the U.S. to own and use a UAV on his farming operation. With his background, Blair is well aware of what’s possible with UAVs in agriculture currently and what could be in time as UAS sensors and software improve and a regulatory framework is put in place to allow beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations. Drones can play a huge role in remote sensing, but rural broadband infrastructure is another obstacle slowing UAVs’ progress in agriculture.

One of the biggest issues farmers deal with in rural America is the amount of data they generate about their farms. For a day’s worth of aerial imaging flights, Blair generates 50 to 60 gigabytes worth of data but only has a 0.5-megabyte upload speed. “I’m trying to put a firehose worth of data through a straw in rural America to get to cloud-based solutions. It does not work,” he said. Instead, Blair says he either has to mail the card in to the software provider or find a highspeed Internet connection to upload the files.

Beyond aerial remote sensing, the next frontier for drones is aerial application. Blair brought a quadcopter UAV equipped with a small spray tank to the conference and will begin experimenting with it on his farm by spraying water. He knows the drones and drone regulations aren’t there yet, but considers it only a matter of time before UAVs will be able to perform aerial applications. Commercial aerial applications would require a Part 137 operating certificate, which Blair acknowledged “opens up a whole new can of worms, regulatory-wise, not only from FAA, but what about EPA? What about crop protection manufacturers? Will those products be labeled for drones?”

Drones won’t be used to spray whole fields, not yet anyway, but Blair sees using them to do spot treatments and to treat specialty crops. “We’re going to see larger drones do aerial application within my lifetime,” but UAS precision ag technology won’t be able to scale up until BVLOS rules are in place enabling drone operators to cover large tracts of land, Blair said.

“We need to be more proactive in developing regulations. USDA, EPA, FAA, state levels—because precision ag is a whole package,” he said. “The farmer, he’s interested in the data, but everything else has to work. … If I can’t get that information from the drone into a cab in the tractor or into some kind of application form, that information is no good for me.”

Williams discussed the FAA’s UAS regulations for small UAS operations under Part 107, the difference between hobbyist and commercial UAS operators, and the FAA’s Section 333 exemption process that grants exemptions from certain UAS operating restrictions or requirements. He also touched on the FAA’s Focus Area Pathfinder Program, an initiative involving three industry partners that are exploring incremental expansion of UAS operations in the National Airspace System.

Williams noted that one of the first visits he got when the FAA established its UAS Integration Office was from representatives from NAAA who stressed the need to ensure the safety of aerial applicators and other low-altitude pilots as the FAA developed its UAS rules. The meeting opened Williams’ eyes to the heightened safety risk UAVs pose to manned ag aviators.

UAV on display at the CropLife America and RISE Regulatory Conference.

PrecisionHawk is one of the companies participating in the FAA’s UAS Pathfinder program. The initiative started in 2015, and Cooper discussed PrecisionHawk’s ongoing research. In August 2016, PrecisionHawk was granted a BVLOS waiver. A Pathfinder final report was submitted to the FAA in the first quarter of 2018 and released publicly May 1. PrecisionHawk recently launched a consulting and training program to help other operators leverage the research it has conducted on BVLOS UAS operations.

Visual line of sight is a fluid definition, Cooper said. PrecisionHawk calculated the distance from which they could see a manned aircraft was anywhere from 2 to 4 square nautical miles.

PrecisionHawk’s BVLOS Waiver is not limited to a specific UAS type and permits:

• Operations in Class G airspace outside of built-up areas
• Operations covering ~38 square nautical miles (vs. 3.14 for VLOS)
• It does not require a visual observer. (There are options to extend the area using a remote visual observer [RVO], but neither the Pilot in Command [PIC] nor RVO needs to see the UAS.)

Operating beyond visual line of sight presents several challenges, Cooper explained. For example, PrecisionHawk had to have a method for the remote PIC to ensure separation from other aircraft. They accomplished that through LATAS technology that PrecisionHawk developed.

In BVLOS, you need to have a broader view of the airspace and be on the lookout for other aircraft. If you’re operating at a large distance, you need to know are you going to have GPS throughout the entire mission.

As of April 2018, the FAA has granted 18 BVLOS waivers to 13 operators. Most waivers require at least one visual observer (VO), and several require multiple VOs, according to Cooper. PrecisionHawk’s waiver does not require a VO. Some waivers are limited to a specific UAV model, while others are broader and based on performance-based capabilities.

A key takeaway is that there is no single concept of operations or operational risk assessment for BVLOS operations, Cooper said. It is also important to have a solution to detect non-cooperative manned aircraft such as ag planes and helicopters, such as aircraft that do not transmit a tracking signal.