UgMO

For just about 30 days, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been playing on turf that’s “greener” than ever before.  That’s because Eric Hansen, head groundskeeper at Dodger Stadium, had UgMO installed in early August to help him maximize the field’s playability for baseball’s major leaguers while saving water in the process.

Hansen’s been at this turf business for the Dodgers for 13 years, so he knows a thing or two about the great American pastime.  But what he couldn’t know, until UgMO’s wireless sensors went underground, was the precise soil moisture level that ensures peak performance on the field, especially in the high-traffic, super-sensitive infield area called the skin.

“The skin [or infield dirt zone] is less than 10 percent of the total field area, but it’s where 70 percent of the game is played,” Hansen said.  “Understandably, a lot of our attention is on the infield skin, where we irrigate by hand.  Before, we were watering strictly by feel and conjecture.  Now, the UgMO technology has helped direct our moisture management, confirming some things I thought were true but also revealing some things I didn’t know, like how long it really takes to get the skin’s moisture back to optimum levels.”

With UgMO’s wireless, real-time technology and ongoing agronomic consults, Hansen’s got irrigation down to a science.  “We know now that we can’t wait until the day before the team returns from the road to begin re-establishing moisture — we’ve got to start sooner.  This way, we can reach optimum moisture levels throughout the 5″ skin profile the first game they are back, not three games into the homestand.  And once those optimum levels are attained, we know to scale back watering and simply apply enough to maintain our target levels.”

Hansen says he can tell the UgMO difference by the way the field plays and the way it holds up during the games.  And bigger picture, it feels good to be doing the right thing for water conservation.  “Everyone in the Dodgers organization is eco-conscious and doing their part to go green.  This is a great way for us to contribute,” Hansen said.  “Irrigating in a way that establishes healthy turf and a great playing surface goes hand in hand with water conservation.  With UgMO, we see a big gain on both sides.”

What is UgMO? A revolutionary soil management technology that guarantees water savings, reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides, and optimal playing conditions on golf courses and other sports turf.  UgMO’s wireless, rootzone intelligence system measures and analyzes soil moisture, temperature and salinity in real time, 24/7, with wireless underground sensors, fully interactive software and best-in-class agronomic consultations.