FieldScience
ally, a mobile accelerometer similar to a Clegg Impact Soil Tester is in final testing and other measurement devices are in development (traction, shear, surface levelness, etc.) that can be attached to the mobile platform (Figure 1, bottom).
>> Figure 1. MOBILE SPATIAL MAPPING devices for sports fields. Top: mulitple sensor device to map soil moisture, salinty, penetrometer resistance, turf quality, and topographic relief. Bottom: accelerometer device that is similar to the Clegg Accelerometer to determine surface hardness (images courtesy of The Toro Co.).
The multiple-sensor device determines several parameters, all with GPS labeling, namely: a) soil volumetric water content (%VWC) in the surface 0 to 4 inch zone; b) soil salinity in the surface 0 to 4 inches; c) surface hardness by penetration resistance as force to in- sert the probes in top 0 to 4 inch; d) plant performance by normal- ized difference vegetative index (NDVI), which is a measure of plant density and color; and e) topography slope and aspect at one foot intervals using current GPS data, but more refined topography information is possible with more expensive GPS units. Addition-
APPLICATIONS OF PTM IN SPORTS TURF Performance Testing and
New Soil-Based Water Audit Applications. An evident ap- plication of the scientific
methods and protocols of PTM to sport fields would be perform- ance testing, the determination of key surface conditions for vari- ous purposes, including: a) assessing current conditions relative to player safety and field playability (benchmarking); b) developing field standards; c) guiding maintenance operations; and d) as a key component in formulating a site-specific, comprehensive “sustain- able sports turf management program.” Determining surface standards is not a new research area, but started with considerable efforts in the 1980’s and continues to the
18 SportsTurf | July 2011
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