Water conservation is a top priority in the golf industry, as superintendents seek innovative ways to maintain high-quality turf while reducing overall irrigation. It is an active area of research and development at GreenKeeper, too. Advances in technology now allow for greater precision in water management, helping courses cut back on unnecessary water use without sacrificing playability. By leveraging spatial and temporal data, superintendents can make more informed irrigation decisions, ensuring that water is applied exactly where and when it is needed.
Understanding Where Water Needs to Be Applied: Spatial Data
Sensor technologies provide critical insights when scheduling overhead irrigation and when hand-watering. These tools identify dry spots that need additional irrigation and areas that retain adequate moisture, reducing overwatering and wasted resources. After a few weeks of regular use, golf course staff quickly learn how volumetric soil moisture content relates to turf performance and wilt.
While use of hand-held meters have become commonplace, many turf managers do not retuinely map soil moisture. Taking the next step of mapping soil moisture variability across the golf course can further aid irrigation scheduling, but it can be a time-consuming task.
Drone- and mower-mounted sensors can automate data collection. Those thousands of data points can then generate helpful maps to adjust irrigation run-times. As with the hand-held moisture meters, a short period of regular use is required to understand how sensor readings relate to turf health and perfomance.
GreenKeeper CIS displays data collected from our Turf Vision System, and engages our users to turn pretty maps into actionable data. The rX active sensor has a dedicated light-source that provides consistent and actionable data regardless of the time of day or sky condition. By mounting the rX sensor to a mower, there is no bidirectional reflectance (a.k.a mower stripes) to confuse the model. Pairing this sensor with our scouting method dramatically shortens the learning period to quickly help guide irrigation.
Using Temporal Data for Smarter Irrigation Timing
Understanding how moisture levels change over time is just as important as knowing where water is needed. Embedded soil moisture sensors continuously monitor soil moisture levels throughout the day. GreenKeeper is connected to SPIIO soil moisture sensors through an API. These sensors provide real-time data on how soils dry down due to evaporation and plant uptake and then rewet with irrigation or rainfall. With this knowledge, irrigation cycles can be fine-tuned to maintain optimal turf conditions without excess watering.
GreenKeeper now integrates Evapotranspiration (ET) models to show users how soil moisture levels are likely to change over the next three days. This forward-looking approach is superior to traditinoal ET-based approaches that rely on past ET data. When scheduling irrigation, managers are estimating how much water to apply tonight to avoid wilt tomorrow.
GreenKeeper’s Adaptive Approach to Irrigation Management
GreenKeeper’s platform combines spatial and temporal data to guide irrigation scheduling across the different microclimates present on a golf course or sports field complex. This is particularly important for large areas with varying sun exposure, soil composition, and drainage capabilities. GreenKeeper RECON sensors, designed for seamless connectivity, bring real-time course data into GreenKeeper’s adaptive models, ensuring precise and efficient irrigation management.
GreenKeeper Insight further enhances this approach by leveraging machine learning to optimize irrigation strategies. By continuously analyzing sensor inputs, weather forecasts, and site-specific conditions, GreenKeeper’s models fine-tune irrigation recommendations to reduce water usage while maintaining turf health.
Take Control of Your Irrigation Strategy with GreenKeeper
GreenKeeper is transforming irrigation management, giving superintendents the data-driven insights needed to optimize water use and maintain superior turf conditions. With RECON sensors, GreenKeeper Insight ML models, and seamless integration of spatial and temporal data, GreenKeeper enables precision irrigation like never before. Take the next step toward smarter, more efficient water use—start leveraging GreenKeeper’s cutting-edge technology today and make a measurable impact on sustainability and course performance.