The standard approach of measuring the deposition of water or fire suppressant dropped from aircraft is the cup-and-grid method (Suter 2000) which involves the weighing of individual cups. This standard approach is accurate but is resource intensive and time consuming. Recently, researchers in Australia have been using a modified version of this standard approach whereby the amount in each cup is estimated visually in the field rather than cups being collected and weighed. FPInnovations researchers had the opportunity to test this modified procedure in October 2011.

For a series of drops tests in 2012, the modified process was again improved by making a template that allows direct GPC measurement at the grid. The process was easy to teach and use by the grid crew. It gave consistent results in GPC without the need to weigh and convert the measurements.