The Adulticide Application and Evaluation Section (AAES) is a research and extension section in the Public Health Research and Education Center. Historically this section evaluated chemicals and equipment for mosquito control. In addition AAES now focuses on technology transfer and empirical investigations of the fundamental parameters governing the efficacy of a pesticide application. There are two primary pesticide applications larviciding and adulticiding which are control of immature and adult mosquitoes respectively.
For larval control AAES is investigating the potential of remote sensing technologies to provide precision pesticide applications. Vast areas of Florida receive blanket sprays of larvicide because locating the discrete water bodies where the larvae reside was logistically impossible. A multi-spectral digital camera is being employed to remotely sense larval developmental sites. Vectors of these water bodies will be uploaded to onboard navigational systems for precision pesticide applications.
Adulticiding in mosquito control is provided by a space spray of Ultra Fine (UF) aerosol. It is understood that UF droplet distributions are the most effective for controlling mosquito populations; this same distribution however is highly susceptible to meteorological change. The equipment used to measure wind speed and direction has been upgraded from propeller to three dimensional sonic anemometry and Sonic Doppler Ranging. Precise measures of the dynamics between the spray and prevailing meteorological conditions will permit the future prediction of spray flux and effect. The MAS is working with a mono-sized, field application rate, droplet generator to return fundamental information on spray flux. The results from this work will lead to validation and further development of predictive models. |
