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AgDRIFT®

Frequency Asked Questions:

 

Question:  What is the Spray Drift Task Force, STDF?
Answer:  A consortium  of approximately 39 agricultural chemical registrants.

Question: How and why did the SDTF get organized?
Answer: The Spray Drift Task Force was formed pursuant to provisions of FIFRA § 3 (c) (2) (B) (ii) to share the cost of developing a generic spray drift data base  capable of satisfying spray drift data requirements for virtually all pesticide product registrations in the United States and Canada.  Groundwork for this Task Force was laid through joint efforts of EPA, the National Agricultural Chemicals Association (now known as the  Crop Life America),  Agriculture Canada, and Environment Canada. This approach to fulfilling pesticide spray drift data requirements  resulted in considerable financial savings for pesticide registrants, while at the same time providing the Agency with a more complete and scientifically more sound basis for evaluating off-target movement of pesticides and assessing exposure of humans and the environment. More about this EPA PR-Notice 90-3 can be accessed from the AgDRIFT home page.

Question:  Why was AgDRIFT® developed?
Answer: AgDRIFT® was developed to provide the US Environmental Protection Agency with an evaluation tool to estimate the environmental exposure from spray drift at time of application. These estimates are used in conjunction with the pesticide toxicity data to conduct a risk assessment for product registration or product re-registration. AgDRIFT® is a cooperative development effort between the  US EPA-ORD, USDA-ARS , USDA Forest Service, and SDTF. 

Question: Why make AgDRIFT® public?
Answer: Both the EPA and the SDTF believe the educational value of AgDRIFT is too great not to make the models available to general public, educators, and applicators.  The more information that is available on the causes of pesticide spray drift and potential mitigation methods the better we (manufacturers, applicators and regulators) can reduce the potential hazards.

Question: Is AgDRIFT® useful for making decisions on how and when to spray pesticides?
Answer: The AgDRIFT® model allows the user to study the effect of many application conditions (e.g. nozzle- and sprayer setup), meteorological and tank mix variables on potential spray movements following application.  However, the model was not developed as a pre-application decision support system. Many factors affect spray movements, and decisions on how and when to spray should carefully consider all factors that could affect the application and drift

Question: I have a copy of AgDRIFT® version 2.03 that I downloaded from the web site.  A new version is now posted. Do I need to update my copy? 
Answer: AgDRIFT® 2.0.05 made minor changes in the Help file and User's manual, and fixed a few programming bugs.  Version 2.0.05 also revised the dispersion algorithm.  This change may affect the deposited values by up to 5%.  If you are using AgDRIFT® for product registration and risk assessments, we recommend you update your copy.  If you are using AgDRIFT® for training or equipment evaluation, a new copy is not required.

Question: Why has the version numbering system changed?  How is version number 2.03 different from version number2.0.05? 
Answer: The numbering system was changed to help identify the model progression.  The first set of digits indicates the base model. This number changes when a fundamental change occurs in the model design.  For example, the version changed from 1.xx to 2.xx when AgDRIFT® was converted to 32 bit processing.  The second set of digits indicates a change that may cause the predicted deposition profiles to change.  The last set of digits indicate a cosmetic or operational fix which will not changes the deposition profile.  This could include library updates, report formatting, glitches or other gremlins.  Note this numbering change will not be fully implemented until the next published version (after 2.0.05).

Question:  What changes have been made to the AgDRIFT® model since version 2.01 was issued?
Answer: For a complete list and a short discussion of the changes made to the AgDRIFT® model click here.

Question:  I am an employee of a member company, Now can I get a password to download a copy of AgDRIFT®?
Answer: Contact your company representative. They will forward your request to web master.  Be sure to include your name, email address and telephone number.

Revised  July 31, 2003