Before adopting UAS into its fleet, Lee County purchased helicopters and fixed- wing aircraft, which are still utilized for larger areas. It has two turboprop DC-3s, four turboprop King Air fixed-wings, and six H125 helicopters.


LCMCD states, “The first niche identified for UAS operations was in aerial larvicide applications. Sites deemed too large or inaccessible for treatment via standard ground resources (sprayers, backpack blowers, etc.) and too small, obscure, unsafe or obtrusive for our standard


58 Jan/Feb 2025


manned aircraft approach were ideal for UAS treatments.”


UAS let LCMCD methodically treat smaller areas, including standing water near residential and commercial areas.


“We do this (with UAS) with the same application rate, at a fraction of the speed and a fraction of the cost,” said Nicholas Lefkow, lead GIS imagery analyst and UAS pilot for LCMCD.


If an area is too dense for aircraft, including


helicopters, the district can


now use the UAS to deeply navigate into the more “targeted polygons.”


Variables such as the manned aircraft’s ground speed, size or shape of a target, proximity to sensitive infrastructure, or even the discomfort of new Floridians experiencing


mosquito control


operations for the first time can make helicopters less than ideal compared to their unmanned counterparts.


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