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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbus, Ohio » Soil Drainage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #174761
Title: Ground-Penetrating Radar Investigation of a Golf Course Green

Author
item Allred, Barry
item MCCOY, EDWARD - THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item REDMAN, DAVID - SENSORS AND SOFTWARE

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2008
Publication Date: 6/10/2008
Citation: Allred, B.J., Mccoy, E., Redman, D. 2008. Ground-Penetrating Radar Investigation of a Golf Course Green. In: Allred, B.J., Daniels, J.J., Ehsani, M.R., editors. Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 353-361.

Interpretive Summary: Keeping golf course facilities in good condition requires continual maintenance and occasional remodeling of the various parts that comprise a golf course, especially the greens. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) can provide a non-destructive way of obtaining valuable information on subsurface features within a golf course green, which can then be utilized in maintenance and remodeling efforts. The golf course green subsurface features of greatest importance include constructed soil layer thicknesses/depths and subsurface drainage pipe network infrastructure. Getting the most out of a golf course green GPR study requires careful consideration of computer processing procedures and the field survey set-up. Rigorous analysis of GPR data from a golf course green provided insight on the best computer processing procedures and the field survey set-up that need to be employed. The results of this study constitute a partial set of guidelines useful to those considering a golf course green GPR investigation.

Technical Abstract: As of the year 2000, there were over 15,000 golf course facilities in the U.S.A. alone. The upkeep of these facilities requires continual maintenance and occasional remodeling. The superintendents and architects responsible for the maintenance and remodeling efforts need non-destructive tools for obtaining information on shallow subsurface features, particularly within golf course greens. The subsurface features of greatest interest within a green are the constructed soil layer(s) and the drainage system infrastructure. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can potentially provide a non-destructive means for golf course superintendents and architects to obtain the shallow subsurface information on a green needed to address maintenance and remodeling concerns. In order to obtain useful information with GPR on golf course greens, computer processing procedures and the field survey set-up are both very important considerations. Data were collected on a USGA Method green with a GPR system having 1000 MHz center frequency antennas. Analysis of this GPR data provided insight on the proper computer processing procedures and field survey set-up. Results suggest that for computer processing of a GPR profile to show constructed soil layer thicknesses/depths and buried drainage pipe positions, a signal saturation correction filter and a constant gain function sequence are appropriate. The GPR time-slice amplitude map best displaying the subsurface drainage pipe network was generated with a sequence of computer processing procedures that included a signal saturation correction filter, a spatial background subtraction filter, 2-D migration, and signal trace enveloping. In regard to the field survey set-up, delineating the golf course green subsurface drainage system as completely as possible requires two sets of parallel measurement transects oriented perpendicular to one another with the spacing distance between adjacent lines of measurement set at no more than 1 m. These results provide some practical guidelines to those contemplating a GPR investigation of a golf course green.