SPORTS SURFACES
Multi-spectral mapping of golf courses
Dr Tim Lodge explains how Agrostis Sports Surface Consulting uses drones to provide clubs with information about their course ’ s grass health
A grostis is pioneering the use of drone-based technology for golf courses , to map grass health and condition , and combining this with over 30 years ’ experience in agronomic science .
Our approach involves the collection and interpretation of ground cover and soil condition data over large areas and identifying the most appropriate and precisely targeted management practices . This delivers significant economic and environmental benefits through , for example , the more efficient use of precious and costly resources such as fertiliser and water .
By using a sophisticated , dronemounted camera , a par four , for example , may be photographed at regular , pre-determined , intervals , perhaps 200 or 300 times . The images are then combined to produce one picture of the entire hole . Taken from about 30 metres , that picture , as a conventional RGB ( red-green-blue ) image and at very high resolution , is of interest for yardage determination or bunker evaluation .
But , after some years of using a drone-mounted optical camera , we have introduced a rather special instrument which captures light from outside of the visible spectrum and that cannot be seen with the human eye . This multi-spectral imagery provides information on a range of features related to the health of the grass and the general condition of the ground cover . Those features include the grass chlorophyll content , its water status , species composition and shoot density , all key components of the playing quality and aesthetics of sports turf surfaces .
74 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | March 2022