Technology Helps


Without a doubt, mapping technology has been this job’s biggest enhancement over the last decade. The moving map provides precise visual cues to the pilot to guide the aircraft on specific lines. Botterill reflects, “Back when I first started 15 years ago, we relied on verbal descriptions of the area and might have used palm trees as a guide, only to realize you used the same palm tree too many times and sprayed the same picnic bench more than once.” With the moving-map guidance systems, pilots today fly much more accurate passes. In turn, this decreases both errors and overlaps while reducing the amount of product that is wasted, thereby saving the operation and citizens money.


The most recent technological investments feature the UAS, a trend across many mosquito control districts. LCMCD not only uses the UAS for ultra-low volume larviciding, but for LIDAR (light detection and ranging) mapping as well. LIDAR enables the agency to scan areas that are unobservable with the naked eye from aircraft above. It enables them to clearly see hidden, low-lying troughs beneath the tree canopy where water might stand and become massive breeding grounds for mosquitoes.


The other place where UAS has been a game changer is in small areas where residents live in close proximity to the application sites. “With all the new development occurring, condos are being built right up against mosquito breeding grounds. It can seem extreme flying these missions right up against these buildings with the helicopters, but the unmanned aircraft can easily treat those very tight areas and it’s not so intimidating for residents,” says Botterill.


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Sep/Oct 2022


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