Agricultural Drone Glossary
The agronomy, regulation, and drone terms that come up around Alberta farms — explained the way we explain them to growers.
Effective Swath
The usable working width of a single drone pass — narrower than the raw spread width — set so that overlap from adjacent passes produces an even, gap-free application.
Read full definitionGranular vs Liquid Application
The two physical forms of input a drone can apply: dry granular product spread from a hopper, and liquid product sprayed from a tank. Granular spreading is an established drone service in Canada; liquid pesticide spraying is now permitted on an interim basis for products already registered for aerial application.
Read full definitionNDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)
A multispectral index (NIR − Red) / (NIR + Red) that ranges from -1 to 1 and quantifies how vigorous a canopy is — used in drone crop monitoring to spot stress before it is visible to the eye.
Read full definitionOFCAF (On-Farm Climate Action Fund)
A federal cost-share program that, in 2026, covers 50% of eligible drone purchases (up to $20,000) tied to cover-crop seeding in Alberta.
Read full definitionPan Test (Pattern Test)
A field calibration where collection pans laid across a drone’s spread are weighed after a pass to map the deposition pattern and set the effective swath so the application comes up even, not striped.
Read full definitionPayload-to-Acre (Loads per Acre)
The relationship between a drone’s hopper weight and the target application rate, which sets how many loads it takes to cover an acre — the single biggest driver of flying time and therefore per-acre cost on a granular spread.
Read full definitionPrescription Map
A georeferenced map that divides a field into zones and assigns each zone a target application rate — the file a drone or floater follows to run a variable-rate job.
Read full definitionRTK vs PPK (GNSS correction methods)
Two ways to get centimetre-grade GNSS positioning on a drone: RTK corrects the position live during the flight over a radio or cell link, while PPK logs raw satellite data and corrects it afterward in software.
Read full definitionSclerotinia (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum)
A fungal disease of canola caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum that thrives in dense, humid canopies and is managed with a well-timed fungicide pass at 20–30% flower.
Read full definitionSFOC (Special Flight Operations Certificate)
A Transport Canada certificate authorizing drone operations that fall outside the Part IX standard rules — required for almost all agricultural spray and spread missions in Canada.
Read full definitionVRA (Variable-Rate Application)
Applying inputs — seed or granular fertilizer — at rates that change across a field according to a prescription map, instead of one flat rate everywhere.
Read full definition