STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute) Bulletin Jan 2014 | Page 6

TURF TALK
and electronics, GPS, an on-board
computer and an operator control/
Interface panel. Data collection is a
continuous, constant speed sampling
process that produces approximately
900-1,400 geo-referenced data
points per fairway for each soil
attribute sampled – and 3,000-4,000
reflectance data points, a measure
of sward vigour, per fairway. Taken
onto a football pitch the Precision
Sense unit collects over 700 moisture
and compaction measurements taken
within the upper 100mm of the soil
profile along with separate assessment
of surface hardness collected by STRI
within the same GPS referenced
spots.
The same process is applied to
measuring a golf green providing
accurate data which details the
relationship between moisture,
firmness, compaction and any resulting
influence on turf vigour (commonly a
measure of stress). When applied to
the world of racecourses the amount
of data can be staggering with over
1,000 points per hectare measured.

Even throughout a golf course the
total data points recorded commonly
exceed 65,000.
So that’s a lot of data and maybe a
danger of “paralysis by analysis”! That
would be true if we were to try and
number crunch the data in lots of
Excel sheets but the Precision Sense
has an answer, extrapolating the data
and plotting the results onto Google
earth™ mapping. This is not only
familiar to all, but colour coded maps
clearly overlay characteristics for
moisture distribution, compaction,
vigour, salinity and, where taken,
STRI firmness data. Topographical
data is also added looking at elevation
changes at 0.5ft intervals, slope
steepness and aspect to the sun. The
latter is very useful highlighting all
south facing slopes prone to drying.
Capturing data to provide an objective
assessment of conditions is an exciting
prospect but we need to be able to
accurately interpret and investigate
our findings. This is where the Turf
Management Programme was born.

What is THE STRI Turf
Management Programme?
The innovative and informative Turf
Management Programme (TMP)
provides detailed data and analysis of
turf performance measurements for a
range of sports. Aimed to help reduce
costs through accurately identifying
areas for product or maintenance
placement and optimising performance,
the new service offers a complete and
objective review of conditions through
the wider playing areas. Through expert
analysis our team of agronomists can
carry out a detailed site assessment of
the reasons behind the conditions and
variances seen, highlighting problem
‘zones’ and providing recommendations
on how to improve performance,
consistency and surface quality across
the course.
TMP may be a ‘one off’ assessment or a
reviewed service which monitors change
over time. Working in conjunction
with routine agronomy inspections,
such as the STRI Programme, TMP
is designed to leave a legacy of key
indicator areas which can be monitored

Toro PS 6000 data collection vehicle

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Bulletin January 2014 Issue 264