U.S.-based SubAir Sports Systems announced a partnership with wireless underground soil moisture sensor startup Soil Scout to give turf managers unprecedented control over their operations and turf with automated subsurface monitoring and ventilation.
Soil Scout’s sensor transmits moisture, temperature, and salinity data in real-time from up to 2 meters below the surface, while SubAir’s subsurface aeration and moisture removal units guarantee ideal pitch conditions, automatically adjusting the moisture levels of the turf according to live, real-time soil conditions. In a sudden downpour, the vacuum systems activate to eliminate excess moisture in the soil profile, with 36x faster drainage than natural drainage alone.
This combination of cutting-edge turf technology enables turf professionals to provide pristine playing surfaces for professional teams and players, thus creating entertainment that creates important memories for fans and players alike.
“Working with Soil Scout has so far been one of the best partnerships we’ve ever had in the entire turf industry. With both companies being the industry leaders in their respective fields, I’m super excited to work together to provide one of the most powerful solutions on the market to help turf managers achieve their goals based on real-time data from Soil Scout’s sensors and our aeration units,” said Brad Dennis, president of SubAir Sports Systems.
“Turf managers expect tools to be able to do their job efficiently and effectively as possible – our partnership provides the data and operational performance to ensure that ideal pitch performance requirements are met. Working with SubAir has been brilliant, and they’re true innovators in their industry – this partnership provides an unrivaled offering and we’re very excited to deploy this solution combination around the world together,” said Jalmari Talola, CEO of Soil Scout.
SubAir Systems and Soil Scout have been chosen to support all eight of the stadium venues at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The devices are also currently used in numerous iconic sports venues such as Citizens Bank Park, home to the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team – a sport where irrigation is a constant challenge due to baseball being one of the few sports that tarps their grass for rain and needing to keep infield clay dry.
“During the Major League Baseball season, it’s critical that our moisture levels remain in a range that allows us to keep the field hydrated enough that we can get through the day without any hotspots, but not so wet that the field is set up excessively for disease and fungal growth,” said Mike Boekholder, Director of Field Operations and Citizens Bank Park, home to the Philidelphia Phillies. “Soil Scout and SubAir help us manage our way through all that in as efficient a manner as possible.”
“Once the Soil Scout units report an average moisture level above our setpoint, the SubAir turns itself on to vacuum mode until the moisture levels drop back below the setpoint. We can likewise adjust the SubAir unit to run on specific schedules based on temperature data, or just turn off completely if the soils get too cold,” he added.