Use of an Airplane and Simulated Aerial Planting to Evaluate Seed Coating, Seed Pelletization, and Seeding Rate on Smooth Cordgrass Vegetation

摘要

Aerial applications using an airplane (crop duster) have been used routinely in the agricultural industry for planting, delivering fertilizers, and spraying herbicides or pesticides. The speed and ease with minimal ground manpower required are the major advantages of aerial applications. In coastal marshes, both water and land vehicles can be used in planting. The levels of difficulty, however, elevate exponentially for places farther away from the main road or boat landings. By using an airplane, it only takes 16 seconds or less to plant a hectare of land. Aerial applications can be used to carry out various missions, from establishing new vegetation to rejuvenating habitats under stress. Smart aerial applicators and unmanned aerial vehicles are being applied in agriculture to improve precision, early detection of disease, weed pressure, crops under stress, and many other aspects of agriculture (Torres-Sanchez et al. 2013, Zhang and Kovacs 2012, de Castro et al. 2012, Gray et al. 2008). These new tools combined with the large scale aerial planting can be used to develop a comprehensive system to support the overall efforts in controlling coastal erosion and maintaining the health and productivity of coastal ecosystems.