Distribute non-uniformly, please | Cornell Turfgrass Program

Seeing exactly where water moves in the soil, thanks to remote sensing, could revolutionize not just irrigation, but the very infrastructure of golf courses

By: Carl Schimenti, Urban Environmental Scientist

I can’t get this image out of my head! This is a grainy photo I took during the recent GCSAA conference in Orlando. Dr. David McCall (Virginia Tech University) was speaking on his program’s research using remote sensing when he showed this image of a digital surface water model. Essentially, where is the water in the soil and how did it get there. I forget precisely how this was generated (either interpolated from many in-ground soil moisture sensors, or using a drone with LIDAR), but it struck me as incredibly informative.

Sure, turfgrass managers could use this data to be more precise with irrigation, or GPS wetting agent applications, or five other maintenance practices. However, my  first thought was how infrastructure can be informed by these data.

We’ve fallen in love with the idea of distribution uniformity in irrigation systems, but increasingly I care less about where the water falls and more about where the water FINISHES. Brian Whitlark (USGA) chatted with Frank Rossi on a recent podcast about this, and suggested that maybe a irrigation system that is NON-UNIFORM might produce MORE UNIFORM soil moisture.

As a thought exercise, how would I place irrigation heads on this fairway if I were to consider not just where water land, but where water will move to? I would place more heads in the dry areas and fewer heads in the wet areas, knowing water will follow gravity. It might look something like this:

I can hear many of you asking: what if I need to water a product in? Fine, you can make sure you there is some water landing everywhere on the fairway, but it doesn’t have to be uniform!

It’s not just irrigation design either. How about drainage design? If we can use remote sensing to generate these mini watershed maps, wouldn’t this optimize drainage planning? Shouldn’t this type of data be crucial in the construction and/or renovation of golf courses?

Certainly, remote sensing was a main theme of the GCSAA show this year. I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to capitalize on these technologies, both on the superintendent side where data informs decision-making, and on the building and construction side that optimizes the fundamental infrastructure of golf courses.