Research Projects

A Long-term Comparative Study of Golf Courses Irrigated with Re-use versus Municipal Water

PI: Lynn Fenstermaker

Lead PI: D. Devitt, UNR

Project Period: June 2000 - June 2005

Funded by: Las Vegas Valley Water District through University of Nevada Reno (UNR)

Right: Figure 1. False color infrared image of the TCP Summerlin Golf Course, July 23, 2001.

Keywords: turf management, turf stress, field spectra, remote sensing

Project Description

This study is a collaborative effort with the University of Nevada Reno Cooperative Extension Service and the Las Vegas Valley Water District. Dr. Dale Devitt (UNR) is the lead principle investigator of this study. Nine golf courses located throughout the Las Vegas valley have volunteered to participate in this research that examines the impact of re-use irrigation water on turf quality. Three of the golf courses have been using re-use water for a number of years. Three of the golf courses switched to re-use water within the past 2-3 years and the remaining three golf courses will be switching to re-use water during the span of this research project. Various in-situ measurements are being made by Dr. Devitt's lab such as soil moisture, amount of irrigation water, turf temperature, turf water potential, and turf chlorophyll content. DRI is providing an aerial and ground remote sensing component to the research. Plant spectra are being acquired, analyzed and compared, so that remote sensing tools can be used in the future to monitor turf quality and provide an early indicator of turf stress. Figure 1 is a false color infrared image of the TCP Summerlin Golf Course. In this image healthy vegetation is bright red. Figure 2 shows turf spectra in the visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Differences in these spectra are correlated to several turf quality parameters such as water and chlorophyll content.