Overview

 

       For the 2015 field season, we will be conducting a study to better determine what the effects of the wind are during the application of adulticide in rural and urban areas from both the truck foggers and aerial sprays.  Though mosquito control applications do not occur if the wind is more than 10mph, even small gusts or breezes have the potential to distribute the spray into nearby properties, known as “drift.”  The wind here in the San Luis Valley tends to come from the south-southwest in Spring and Summer, so with the results from this study, we will be able to apply our adulticide more effectively and efficiently and in the desired location, possibly even leading to less spray applied altogether.

 

Methods (Generalized )

 

       On an appropriate site, a grid of 14 droplet impingers will be set up with special coated slides that will catch the applied adulticide spray.  Spraying will proceed in the area using standard application methods.  All information on weather & fogger properties will be recorded before & during the application.  After the adulticide application, slides from the droplet impingers will be carefully collected and sent for analysis to the Fort Collins Center for Disease Control.  Once the data has been received and analyzed, any issues will be promptly addressed and implemented into our future plans.