VIEW ARTICLE

Techniques

A Spore and Pollen Trap for Use on Aerial Remotely Piloted Vehicles. Tim R. Gottwald, Research plant pathologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory, Byron, GA 31008; W. Louis Tedders, Research entomologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory, Byron, GA 31008. Phytopathology 75:801-807. Accepted for publication 6 February 1985. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1985. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-75-801.

A spore trap for use on remotely piloted aircraft was designed, constructed, and tested. The trap was constructed from a servo modified to drive an aluminum trapping drum. The edge of the drum was covered with Melinex tape coated with an adhesive mixture to trap impinging spores. The drum could be rotated to multiple positions in front of a 1.0-mm-wide slit orifice. The trap was controlled from the ground by utilizing an auxiliary channel of the remote controls used to pilot the aircraft. The trap sampled 12- 14 L of air per minute at a cruising airspeed of about 72- 80 kph. Cost of the trap was less than $75. The trapping system has been employed to sample spore/pollen densities at various low altitudes over peach and pecan orchards. Densities of spore and pollen samples were compared to those recorded by a Burkard 7-day recording volumetric spore trap located on the ground.