SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/251524
February 2014 | SportsTurf 15 www.stma.org drone-CI and -NDVI values were better cor- related with handheld sensors than DGCI in all but one case. These results suggest drone-based imag- ing using regular and NIR-modified digital cameras can provide information equivalent to handheld sensors. This allows CI and NDVI data to be collected in a fraction of the time required for handheld collection. Though our study used water-stressed turf, many other stresses and cultural practices have been correlated with handheld CI and NDVI, suggesting other stresses can be equally detected with drone-based DIA. These results also show addition of an NIR component to DIA increases ability to measure "greenness," illustrated by the stronger correlations with handheld CI and NDVI sensors than DGCI, which does not use NIR data. MONITORING CHANGES OVER TIME Drones can provide additional informa- tion valuable to sports turf managers. By using drones, changes in turf can easily be monitored over time. Furthermore, using drones to create GPS-based maps can easily pinpoint areas of turf stress. This information can then be used by sports turf managers to address the problem, whether it is increasing an irrigation zone run time to alleviate local- ized drought stress or increasing nitrogen fer- tility to correct chlorotic turf. With DIA, it is possible to model and calculate corrective measures (i.e., nitrogen rate must be increased by 0.20 lbs N·1000 ft-2 to alleviate turf chlorosis) with little error and simple mathe- matics, minimizing waste. Future implications of drones in sports turf management are ongoing. Drones could be programmed to take off, fly routine routes, and land at specified time intervals, providing automated turf data over time. Drones could automatically detect turf prob- lem areas with onboard software and gener- ate GPS-based maps on the fly. If networked wirelessly to irrigation controllers, drones could trigger site-specific irrigation events to correct for localized dry spots detected dur- ing flight in real time. Drones also can be used to gather information other than im- agery. Thermal-infrared imaging or infrared thermometers can measure turf canopy tem- peratures, which can indicate water stress. At UNL, preliminary work has begun on engi- neering drones for weed-control technology. The goal is to program drones to automati- cally seek, detect, and spray weeds with on- board herbicides. By providing a birds-eye view of turf, drones can quickly and efficiency gather useful information regarding turf status that can aid in management. Through DIA, drones can provide quantitative informa- tion about turf in a timely and efficient manner. Turf parameters such as "green- ness" (via CI and NDVI), color, percent green cover, and various stresses can be de- tected quickly and easily. The information from drones can lead to better-informed de- cisions. Thus, drones offer many advantages to sports turf managers that ultimately save time, reduce labor, and lower costs. n Scott M. Dworak is a PhD candidate, Uni- versity of Nebraska-Lincoln Adjunct faculty, Bi- ology Department, Doane College; Dr. Roch E. Gaussoin is head of the Department of Agron- omy & Horticulture and Professor of Turfgrass Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and Vishal Singh is with Pixobot, LLC. Future implications of drones in sports turf manage- ment are ongoing. Drones could be programmed to take off, fly routine routes, and land at specified time intervals, providing automated turf data over time.