Real-time measuring of the spatial distribution of sprayed aerosol particles

An agricultural spraying system for the controlled spraying of aerosol particles over a delimited area, comprising:

• a vehicle for circulating over said delimited area, said vehicle being operated by an operator;
• a sprayer, mounted on said vehicle, for spraying said aerosol particles as said vehicle circulates over said delimited area;
• and
• an optical system for measuring in real-time a spatial distribution of said particles, comprising:
• a short range LIDAR optical sensor comprising a light source assembly projecting an excitation light beam through the aerosol jointly to the spraying thereof, said excitation light beam being scattered by the particles, thereby producing scattered light, said optical sensor further comprising a detecting assembly for detecting a part of said scattered light and obtain therefrom information on the spatial distribution of the particles comprising an intensity value of said detected scattered light as a function of distance from said optical sensor, said optical sensor having a substantially flat spatial response wherein a same concentration of particles at any distance within said short range will generate a signal of substantially a same intensity;
• mounting means for mounting said optical sensor on the vehicle;
• and
• a processing unit in communication with the optical sensor for receiving therefrom said information on the spatial distribution of the particles, said processing unit providing spraying instructions based on said information to said operator in real-time.