Application of OpenAir and AgDRIFT Models to Estimate Organophosphate Pesticide Spray Drift: A Case Study in Macon County, Alabama

Abstract

Pesticides have been widely used in agriculture, resulting in significant pollution that affects both the environment and human health. This pollution is particularly prevalent in nearby agricultural areas, where sensitive resources are contaminated through spray drift exposure and surface runoff. Spray drift is a critical concern when it comes to environmental hazards. It poses health risks not only to farmers and pesticide applicators, but also to individuals living in nearby farm areas. To address this issue, developing reliable models and techniques for estimating spray drift and reducing its impact has become a crucial and efficient research topic. The current research has three primary objectives: firstly, to estimate the average pesticide application rates, trend analysis, and concentration distribution; secondly, to estimate the temporal variations of pesticide concentrations and identify the areas most likely to be affected by pesticide spray drift close to agricultural fields; and lastly, to develop a model for field spray drift and deposition integration between the OpenAir package for the R programming environment and the AgDRIFT atmospheric model. The drift model, along with precise supervised classifications, allowed for a more accurate estimation of potential drift in agricultural areas at a spatial resolution of 15 m. Additionally, multiple scenarios were conducted to evaluate the potential risks of pesticide drift outside of the target areas. This novel method effectively estimated organophosphate pesticide spray drift over two case studies in Macon County using a combination of OpenAir and AgDRIFT models and remotely sensed data. This method allowed for field simulations within completely defined exposure areas with little prior knowledge of pesticide quantities. This study concluded that 6% of total cropland is in danger of pesticide spray drift, with around 8% of crop areas exposed to potential strong drift on land use. Furthermore, 11% of cropped land is vulnerable to moderate drift, whereas around 75% of land use land cover is not vulnerable to pesticide drift. Through this research, an accurate and efficient approach has been developed to estimate spray drift and reduce its impact in agricultural areas, contributing to a safer and healthier environment for all.

A Hybrid Modeling Approach for Estimating the Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticide Drift in Sangamon County, Illinois

“…These findings were based on droplet size distributions obtained through multiple AgDRIFT examinations and are consistent with the results of other studies [41,67]. This recent finding challenges one of the main pieces of evidence in a few previous simulation studies [43,68] that suggest a population could be exposed to toxic pesticide drift when the surrounding crop fields reach a certain threshold, without taking wind patterns into account. However, this result is fully consistent with the predictions of other studies [41,50,67] that imply the dispersion of organophosphate pesticide vapors emitted at the time of spraying is primarily dependent on the prevailing weather conditions, particularly wind patterns (speed and direction).…”

“…The study considered the quantity of soybeans and corn within a 450 m buffer zone from the urban-rural community's center point and analyzed airflow paths to determine the possible origin of the pesticide drift. This buffer zone value has been relied upon in previous studies [40,43,46,63,68]. The PSCF results for the potential organophosphate pesticide drift in Springfield, Illinois, in July 2019 are shown in Figure 6.…”

“…The drift deposition fraction, which is the amount of pesticide that drifts away from the target area, varied from 0.222 to 0.350. Source: [32,40,43,50,58].…”

“…simulation studies [43,68] that suggest a population could be exposed to toxic pesticide drift when the surrounding crop fields reach a certain threshold, without taking wind patterns into account. However, this result is fully consistent with the predictions of other studies [41,50,67] that imply the dispersion of organophosphate pesticide vapors emitted at the time of spraying is primarily dependent on the prevailing weather conditions, particularly wind patterns (speed and direction).…”

“…Atmospheric models are capable of analyzing a wide range of spray drift situations arising from agricultural applications and off-site deposition of pesticide chemical compositions [36][37][38]. These mathematical models, such as AGricultural DISPersal (AgDISP), AgDRIFT, CALPUFF, and Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System (ADMS), can estimate spray drift deposition downwind from various application techniques [39][40][41][42][43][44]. Organophosphate substances are a varied category of chemicals utilized in the agricultural and industrial sectors.…”