Advanced Sensor Technology launched UgMO, a new patented, wireless, underground soil monitoring system at the GIS in New Orleans last week.
Golf champion and conservation advocate Gary Player was on hand to introduce UgMO, a new generation of wireless soil monitoring technology. Its in-ground system operates via a wireless mesh network, and its unrivaled software package leverages the latest agronomic research on the relationship between moisture, temperature and salinity in the soil's rootzone. By bundling the wireless hardware, analytic software and ongoing agronomic consultations, UgMO users experience water savings, reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides, and optimal playing conditions.
“UgMO puts the smartest, most intuitive information available in the industry directly at our customers' fingertips,” said Walt Norley, founder and CEO of AST.
“Consider UgMO's water conservation piece,” Gary Player says. “The savings achieved in water, alone, will create not only a return on your investment, but it will also protect the earth's most precious resource – water. That's something we all must invest in,” says Player, who has a portfolio of more than 300 golf courses.
Player has personally experimented with cutting-edge conservation techniques on his ranch in the semi-desert Karoo of South Africa. Some years ago, he aspired to build a virtually “waterless” golf course, and to his credit, he has done just that. Player has since invited developers from various parts of the world, particularly the Middle East, to see the finished product which has now become a model for future Gary Player-designed golf courses. Inspired by his brother and world-renowned conservationist Dr. Ian Player, Gary Player strives to make each golf course “a gift to nature” and believes that saving water is critical in today's world. Hence, Player has given AST's UgMO product his nod of approval.
UgMO is different primarily because of its software and agronomic service subscription package. Unlike other soil-monitoring devices which only focus on hardware, UgMO includes three powerful software components combined with agronomic support. These include data collection, data interpretation and data analysis.
“Every community in the U.S. and around the world, including golf and sports turf, is increasingly concerned about what we're putting into the ground,” Norley said. “The soil is the next frontier in the 'green revolution' and we are proud to be leading the industry in protecting it. UgMO's wireless sensor design provides an unparalleled method to capture essential data that no one else can match, and now our UgMO software intelligence gives you absolute and precise indications of how to maximize resources, save money and improve turf health,” he said.
Norley added that with UgMO, clients could expect their water savings alone to be in the range of 10 to 25 percent.
“Think of the dollars that can be saved from that and extended to your power, fertilizer and pesticide line items, too,” he said. “Our customers across the country tell us that the return on this system is priceless.
UgMO has been field-tested at some of America's finest golf courses including Merion Golf Club, Desert Mountain Golf Club and Los Angeles Country Club, among others.