Tough Turf Times Require Innovative Technology to Survive

In the past few years, Melbourne councils have been required to reduce water allocations to less than 25% of previous water restrictions or to limit irrigating to one in four turf sporting grounds under strict Stage 3a restrictions. After substantial rainfall in the catchment areas, many restrictions have been eased to Stage 2 but monitoring and reporting of irrigation data for sustainable management is now considered best practise regardless. Water scarcity and waste minimisation are issues that are here to stay and councils must be seen to be decreasing water consumption in their facilities. Ground managers and curators need to adopt new initiatives to minimise irrigation waste and optimise precious resources.

The Victorian Government has recently provided $2 million worth of funding under the Sustainable Sporting Grounds Program to help sports clubs deal with the impact of increasingly stringent restrictions and future proof facilities against drought conditions.

The Minister for Sports and Recreation Hugh Delahunty says  "This program provides the cash boost needed for sports clubs to develop long term, sustainable, low water use community sporting facilities that are better equipped to deal with future climate challenges.”

Traditionally, councils have simply maintained sporting grounds to the basic standards required by sporting codes. When new restrictions were implemented, one in four playing fields were left to survive on rainfall unless the club or local council could justify having additional water provisions.

Many fields deteriorated under severe restrictions and became unplayable while demand continued to rise for these facilities. Restrictions also led to less competitive or socially disadvantaged users having less access to suitable playing fields. Increased population growth and demand for playing spaces in general have placed additional pressure on those turf based facilities that meet the criteria to benefit from an increase water allocation.

Introduced in April 2007 in metropolitan Melbourne, the policy aimed to achieve an 80% reduction in water use on sports grounds. To qualify for further water allocations, facilities need to develop a ‘Water Conservation Plan’, install water meters, centralise watering systems, audit irrigation systems and publish irrigation schedules. There was a fear that these seemingly harsh restrictions would ultimately lead to increased player injury, undermine community engagement, reduce the health and well-being in the population, and even lead to job losses in the turf industry. Councils were therefore faced with the challenge of utilising limited state and federal funding to optimise limited water allocations.

The impact of water restrictions on playing fields varies greatly depending on the local rainfall, soil types, ground conditions and intensity of activity. The need to know the soil moisture content in a variety of soils and conditions is paramount.

One way to reduce your water footprint is to stop over-watering.  Not only is it environmentally more sustainable, it will save money and produce better turf.

Many councils across Australia have invested in the Hydrosense soil moisture monitoring system made by Campbell Scientific to ascertain optimal water coverage and duration. With a release set for September this year, the Hydrosense II is the second generation of this innovative Australian technology.


The Hydrosense II is a handheld display and soil moisture sensor. Featuring a new display and a new easy insertion soil probe, this compact measurement system has a clear, large LCD display with a convenient layout of the buttons to allow for undemanding one-handed operation in the field.

Incorporating Bluetooth connectivity with an onboard GPS, the new and improved Hydrosense II allows for storable geo-tags recording location specific data. This data can be transmitted wirelessly from your handset to your laptop or PC and can then be exported to Google Earth, GPX and CSV (Excel).


Full spacial representation can be achieved allowing gardeners, curators and grounds keepers to selectively irrigate only where and when needed, reducing water costs, improving sustainability and the overall condition of the turf.

According to a report commissioned by the Victorian Government on ‘Ground Conditions and Injury Risk’, the Hydrosense is “easy to use, not subject to operator error”. The new Hydrosense II, which sells from around $1500, also offers the latest communication capabilities coupled with geo-tagging for more precise, three dimensional representation of your playing field and Campbell’s legendary technical and integration support.

 The Hydrosense II is recommended for any curator or grounds keeper wishing to comply with sustainability programs while getting maximum mileage from your allocated resource.


For more information about the Sustainable Sports Ground Program, visit www.grants.dpcd.vic.gov.au

Up to $100,000 is available for each project. Applications close Wednesday 10 August 2011.

For pre-sale orders please contact Gavin Hewitt

New Ticketing System to Improve Campbell Quality Service

Campbell Scientific Australia have implemented a new ticketing system to help track sales and support inquiries in order to further improve the quality of customer service we provide.  

The new system will automatically create new tickets from emails sent to our public email addresses.

Sales inquiries should be sent to info@campbellsci.com.au

Support inquiries should be sent to helpdesk@campbellsci.com.au

Customers will receive a confirmation email that their inquiry has been received and a username and password to use to log in to our Helpdesk website at http://helpdesk.campbellsci.com.au. Here customers can view all of their open tickets, look through technician replies, post responses and rate the quality of support they have received.

When a technician replies to a ticket, the customer will be notified by an email containing the reply and a link to the ticket on our website. The customer will then have the option of replying to the email as normal, or entering the website to see the ticket history and then send a response.

All quotes will be sent through the ticketing system, these will be received as an email by the customer. The customer can then reply to that email with further questions or a purchase order and the reply will be linked directly to the quote, enabling our sales and ordering staff to respond to inquiries more promptly.

More information on setting up and using a CSA helpdesk account can be found in this document: 

University of PNG AWS Tender Won by Joint Australian/UK Campbell Scientific Bid

In 2010, the University of Papua New Guinea purchased an automatic weather station from CSA for evaluation. The system had to be web enabled, capable of handling the extreme tropical conditions of PNG and have adequate battery and solar power to remain online for extended periods in tropical monsoonal periods. Despite these challenges, CSA’s engineers and production team provided a system that passed the University’s requirements with flying colours.

In early 2011, the University of PNG applied for and secured external funding for 18 automatic weather stations based on the specifications of the unit previously supplied by CSA. The only problem was that the funding was provided by the European Economic Community (EEC) and their strict requirements required that the 18 stations be supplied by a company from a country within the EEC – which ruled Australia out.

Our sister company in the UK, Campbell Scientific Ltd, quickly agreed to manufacture and supply the 18 stations based on CSA’s specifications with some additional regional components being supplied by CSA. The stations have now been shipped to the University of PNG within budget and on time – another joint Campbell Scientific success story.

Charles Sturt Uni Rhizolysimeter Project

The new Charles Sturt University (CSU) Rhizolysimeter is the largest root-growth research facility in the world. The complex contains 72 intact soil monoliths encased in steel tubes. The encased soil monoliths are arranged in rows of 18 in two underground rhizolysimeter laboratories (2 rows in each lab) that allow access to the side of the soil cores beneath the soil surface. The design of the facility allows for nondestructive, in situ, and high temporal resolution measurements of integrative root growth and soil water dynamics. The soil monoliths can be fitted with a wide range of sensors. Campbell Scientific Australia are installing a total of 576 TDR (Time Domain Reflectometer) sensors, 8 in each soil monolith. The CS610 3-rod TDR sensors are connected to a network of multiplexers controlled by a CR1000 data logger.

View of the Rhizolysimeter site, the smaller old site can be seen to the left of the picture.

Inserting the CS610 probes into the drilled holes.

Crane over Lab 2 lifting the cores to provide access for drilling and installation of CS610 TDR probes.

Lifting the cores with a crane to provide access for drilling and inserting the top four CS610 probes.

Drilling holes in the lab for installing the CS610 TDR probes

More drilling!

Wiring up in Lab 1

Lab 1 with most of the enclosures installed.

Rain shades for sliding over the cores










Underneath

Environmental Management Increases Mining Profits

Conventional wisdom places environmental practices as an obstacle and burden to mining operations – an obstruction to the actual running of a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. For a savvy mining operator, an environmental management plan can be a highly useful tool for maximising profit margins, minimising potential liabilities, increasing efficiency and gaining positive publicity.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) in Australia means implementing an international standard of consistent improvement – namely, ISO 14001. A company which complies with ISO14001 in a given review period will be issued a certificate to that end and will enjoy greater relations with other ISO14001 compliant companies. Having a compliant EMS also serves as significant protection from legal issues, often preventing costly and image-damaging litigation.

ISO 14001 is not designed to dictate to Managers how to run their companies; it is a tool for improving efficiency of business systems and environmental performance. Having an EMS can be a competitive advantage in the tender process, leading to increased tender success and increased business success. Having a certified EMS is a requirement to entering some Japanese or EU markets.

Environmental risk categorisation and rating is a part of a successful EMS, improving your organisation’s ability to manage and mitigate risk associated with the environmental effects of mining operations and their after-effects. Recycling waste and reusing energy is also a key part of an EMS, allowing organisations to reduce operating costs, increasing profit margins. For example, following the Queensland floods earlier this year, water produced as a result of coal seam gas extraction was allowed to be used for removal of mud and debris from flood-affected buildings given that the water quality passed suitable criteria. This produced goodwill and positive publicity for the participating companies, possibly increasing public support for further mine development.

The essence of the ISO14001 standard is that it is a positive feedback loop – to maintain their certificate, a company must improve its environmental management measurably every year. One method of doing this is to introduce automated data logging of important environmental variables, such as the salinity of runoff, or the suspended solids in tailings dams. Automatically logged data can be used to construct much more detailed models than manually collected data, as it can be collected more frequently with ease. Another advantage is that automated collection allows real-time monitoring of on-site conditions, without waiting weeks for lab analysis of samples.

Campbell Scientific Australia is based in Townsville, Queensland and has been a leader in water quality measurement for 18 years, with hundreds of sites across Australia boasting Campbell sensors and data loggers. The company offers automated, on-site logging of water quality data including turbidity, suspended solids concentrations, water temperature, water depth, electrical conductivity, salinity, pH, oxygen reduction potential and dissolved oxygen.

Dissolved solids concentrations are especially important for water quality in an EMS, as standards are set for the suitable use for water in tailings dams etc and often have a maximum allowable suspended solids specification for a given application. For example, the flood water cleanup mentioned earlier allowed CSG water which met criteria of pH, suspended solids and electrical conductivity (often used as a measure of salinity) to be used for that purpose. Different requirements must be met to allow waste water to be used for dust suppression or for revegetation. Campbell Scientific Australia can provide real time monitoring of these criteria, allowing business decisions to be made quickly with instant and historical data available easily. A simple system for a small tailings dam might cost approximately $25000, a negligible cost compared to the overall cost of running a mine.

Real time data logging of water quality is a vital component of an EMS for mining companies and Campbell Scientific Australia’s Application Engineers have the expertise and flexibility to make the integration and support of on-site sensors a successful and profitable project.

Back on Line After Cyclone Yasi

A Big Hello To Our Customers!

We apologize for the fact that the offices of CSA could not be contacted for the last week.

As you may or may not be aware, one of the largest cyclones ever to hit the Australian coastline crossed around 200 klm north of Townsville last Wednesday night.

Cyclone Yasi did massive damage to the coastal towns of Mission Beach, Cardwell and to the sugar town of Tully.

The city of Townsville was not in the eye of the cyclone where the winds are strongest but according to the media, we were hit by category two winds of between 125kph to 170 kph.
While there was little structural damage to buildings in the city, there was considerable damage to signs, trees, power lines and transformers.

Shortly after the cyclone, only 15% of the city of Townsville had power.

The offices of CSA were in one of the worst affected areas and power was only restored late yesterday afternoon – almost a week after the cyclone hit.

So please bear with us while we catch up on the support calls, emails and shipping that has accumulated over that period. We will do our very best to respond in a timely manner.

The last few months has seen a variety of intense weather patterns throughout Australia.

With floods in central and southern Queensland and Victoria, bushfires in Western Australia and extreme heat in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, the people of Australia have suffered many trials and tribulations.

We at CSA are extremely proud of the instrumental role that Campbell Scientific equipment and staff have played in monitoring these events and in many cases, minimizing the loss of life and property.

With the help of you, our loyal customers, we hope that we can continue to provide such service and support to the Australian community.

Regards,

The Team at CSA

EC Systems - Report from Dave in Sarawak

Hi Dudes, both stations installed and now having a break for a day. Amazing place and friendly people. They have been introducing us to their unique food , water chicken (frog), flying fox (yes the bat), wild boar, goat mud crab, and fish in many different ways washed down with bucket loads of Heineken. It’s all been great, even the bat. The first station went up without a hitch apart from a minor glitch with the net radiometer. The second station was a 1.5 km walk through knee deep peat sludge. Once up the tower a local swarm of honey bees came to visit us at the 10 metre level. I was working with about 100-200 bees sitting on my shirt drinking the sweat out of it. Occasionally they would get inside the shirt and that’s when I was stung (6 time in all). The 2nd tower is functioning - the shorter SDM cable worked a treat. Dave.