Water scarcity remains a global challenge for the turfgrass industry, including golf courses. Precision irrigation, based on accurate soil moisture mapping, offers significant potential for water conservation. However, adoption remains low.
This is mainly due to the limited use of soil moisture sensors, stemming from a lack of skilled labor for data collection and interpretation, the absence of standardized protocols for sensor placement, and high costs for large-scale sensor deployment.
Using satellite imagery could be a cost-effective method for large-scale soil moisture mapping. However, a key challenge is the spatial and temporal resolution of current satellite imagery not meeting the needs of irrigation management in intensively maintained turfgrass systems. Additionally, no user-friendly decision support tool exists for turfgrass managers to easily use satellite data for timely irrigation planning.
Potential Benefits for the Turfgrass Industry: Precision irrigation with soil moisture sensors has been shown to reduce water use on golf greens. Expanding this approach to larger turfgrass areas, such as fairways, could lead to even greater water savings and reduce water budgets, and help address other site-specific cultural practices on turfgrass sites.
This project aims to support the turfgrass industry, particularly on golf and other intensively managed turfgrass sites, by promoting the broader adoption of soil moisture maps and precision irrigation.
Additionally, it addresses societal concerns about water consumption in intensively managed turfgrass systems, contributing to a more sustainable industry.
Deliverables:
1. Establishes a new strategy for developing high spatial and temporal soil moisture maps for large turfgrass sites, i.e. golf course fairways.
2. Creates a framework for developing a web application for daily soil moisture maps based on satellite data and soil water balance models for daily irrigation scheduling.
3. Presentations at state, regional, national, and international extension and scientific meetings; Publications in both peer-reviewed journals, trade magazines and webpages.
