A neighbour sprays at dusk and your vines wear it by morning
Temperature inversion spray drift is how a herbicide put on a neighbour's fallow at dusk ends up on your vines overnight. The ground cools the air, and that cold air drains downslope with the spray in it.
The 2,4-D label warns of severe damage to grapes. The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) reports twisted new leaves and zig-zag shoots, with early shoot growth and flowering the touchy stages.
You won't see it happen. Mist, dew and smoke can show up hours after the inversion has set in, and a handheld reading at the tank can't tell 1.25 m from 10 m.
- Cold air runs to the low corner and the creek line.
The same evening, with and without a mast
Without monitoring
- 5:30 pmNeighbour sprays the fallow upslope.
- 9:00 pmCold air drains down to your low corner.
- 7:00 amTwisted new leaves. No weather record.
With monitoring
- 5:30 pmNeighbour sprays the fallow upslope.
- 9:05 pmMast flags an inversion. Text hits your phone.
- 7:00 amNight's wind and temperature log is ready to export.
How temperature inversion spray drift gets flagged at your block
- 1
Two heights, one mast
Matched shielded sensors read the air at 1.25 m and 10 m. Wind is read at 2 m. Humidity is read at 1.25 m.
- 2
Radio to the gateway
Every five minutes the mast node sends its readings by LoRaWAN (long range wide area network) radio to the gateway.
- 3
Out by Starlink or 4G
The gateway sends them to the dashboard and out as SMS or email to the people you nominate.
- 4
It compares the two
When the air at 10 m reads warmer than the air at 1.25 m by your threshold, on two readings, you get a text.
What we fit beside your block
-
Matched temperature pair
Two shielded sensors at 1.25 m and 10 m. We run them side by side first and record the offset.
Read every 5 min
-
Wind and humidity
Wind at 2 m and humidity at 1.25 m, so records get their weather fields.
Wind at 2 m
-
Mast node
Sends the readings by radio to the gateway.
Every 5 min
-
Gateway
Picks up the mast by radio and passes it on.
Silent alert at 30 min
-
Starlink or 4G
Carries the readings to your dashboard and phone.
SMS or email
What lands on your phone when the air inverts
Block 2, 10 m minus 1.25 m
Dashboard view
- Air at 1.25 m
- 9.4 °C
- Air at 10 m
- 11.0 °C
- Wind at 2 m
- 2 km/h
Today versus with a mast at the block
| Topic | Today | With monitoring |
|---|---|---|
| Knowing it's an inversion | Mist, dew or smoke, often hours late | Two heights compared every five minutes |
| Where it's measured | A tower on the far side of a rise | Open ground beside your own block |
| Weather on the night | Memory and the forecast | Time-stamped log you can export |
On a Queensland vine block
The mast stands in open ground on the upwind edge, 15 m outside the first row. AWRI reports labels measuring wind 15 m outside the vineyard on the upwind side. Check the current label.
Cold air pools low, so a mast on the upper edge can miss the low corner. We may add a second node there. A QBCC-licensed contractor we engage erects the mast. We do the electrical work under Queensland Electrical Contractor Licence 1513082.
Frost is the same cold air. See the orchard frost alarm for your coldest block. For the weather at spray time, see the vineyard rain gauge and orchard irrigation scheduling. Mildew timing is covered in leaf wetness monitoring.
Your own sprays need records too, and the mast gives you the measured weather fields. Table grape country around Emerald is in hazardous area 3, where ester 2,4-D needs a permit.
What it costs
We set a fixed price after a short scoping call or a site visit. It depends on the number of sensors, how far the mast is from the gateway, and how it gets out. Ongoing support is available as a plan after handover.
Get a quote for a vine block mastThe fixed price covers
- Mast, matched sensors and wind and humidity gear
- Gateway and Starlink or 4G backhaul
- Installation and electrical work under QLD Electrical Contractor Licence 1513082
- Alert set-up, thresholds set to your labels, and a spring calibration check
- Commissioning across a full evening to morning cycle, and training
- An ongoing support plan: we keep it running, replace batteries and sensors, and tune alerts
What this mast won't do
- It shows an inversion exists, not whether it's hazardous, so treat every flagged inversion as hazardous. It isn't a recognised inversion station and isn't approved or compliant.
- It isn't a forecast and reads one point on the slope. It doesn't replace the label.
- Low-cost sensors are indicative. GRDC says audits need calibrated instruments.
- The log shows conditions, not who sprayed.