Drone surveillance coming to the Keys:
Bug board looks to machines for help
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District has begun employing aerial drones in its fight against one of the Keys’ least favorite insects – the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
As part of an all-out assault on the bugs, which can carry nasty illnesses such as chikungunya, zika fever, and dengue fever, the district has put unmanned aerial vehicle technology to work, and is preparing to expand the program.
Konk Life recently asked the district’s Chief Pilot Glenn Gullingford about the drones.

Q: What’s the timetable for the district’s drone program?

A: We’re already using them. Certain Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) qualifications have to be met prior to someone acting as a unmanned aerial system (UAS) operator. The District currently has one qualified Field Inspector (Key Largo Office) who has met the requirements to operate a UAS. We have more FIs who are working on meeting the qualifications. We began using one up in Key Largo about two weeks ago. We’ve had a Certificate of Authority (COA) from the FAA to use them for about a year now. We’re currently the only mosquito district in the country with a COA.

Q: Surveillance operations against mosquitoes? They’re awfully small. How does that work?

A: Plans are to use the UAS to find mosquito breeding “habitat.”

Q: Are the drones ever going to be used to spray? Is so, what type of poison would be used?

A: Actual treatments to control adult mosquitoes or mosquito larva may be a future potential mission with a more robust UAS than we currently have using approved products.

Q: What are the make and types of the drones?

A: DJI Phantom II Vision Plus. We’re looking at different systems to see who is developing what types of cameras out in the market place to penetrate though the canopy to find where the breeding habitat water is. Likely candidates could be infrared, flydar, or multi-spectral cameras.

Q: Will the operators be located in the Keys?

A: Yes.

Q: Is this the beginning of the end of manned-flight spraying?

A: No. You can’t use a UAS to treat the amounts of acres we treat. It’s possible to use a UAS for small (5 to 10 acre) blocks but we’re typically treating 500-plus acres a day. The use of a UAS as a tool for Field Inspectors to find breeding habitat will be a tremendous asset in controlling our overhead and costs.
The next manned aerial larvicide mission, via helicopter, will take place from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. today, June 25, over Old Town Key West, which is west of White Street. The district will be spraying Bti, a mosquito larva-specific soil bacteria. It is mixed with water and applied as a mist to combat Aedes aegypti.
Dengue has not been confirmed in the area since 2010, however the district is continuing its efforts to reduce the overall skeeter population.
The district held a regular monthly meeting on Tuesday evening, but at press time, was still holding off on green-lighting the release of hundreds of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes over Key Haven, a long-planned project involving a partnership with the British biotech firm Oxitech. District members are awaiting word from the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA.)
“As far as the FDA is concerned we’ve heard nothing,” district spokeswoman Beth Ranson said. “We’re pretty much still in a holding pattern.”

 

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