Mapping Soil Compaction of An American Football Field.

Turf wear and soil compaction have always been a concern in the management of golf course, athletic field and recreational area.  Both turf wear and soil compaction is important, not only to the quality and performance of the field, but they can also be critical to the safety of the players.  A study was conducted on an American football field at the Carbondale Community High School in Illinois, USA.   The field was constructed in 2001 on indigenous soil, seeded with 480 kg ha^-1 of 95:5 mixtures of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schred.) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). The field was opened for play on 30 August 2003.  Prior to its opening, no traffic had been introduced to the field except from that of maintenance crews.  The 2003 football season ended on 7 November 2003.  In the experiment, the field was divided into 735 grids.  Each grid represented an area of approximately 2.74 x 2.44 m.  In each grid, soil bulk density, Clegg impact value, soil moisture content and turf quality were measured before and after the playing season.  The collected data were statistically analyzed using SAS statistical package procedures.  The spatial variability of each soil property, including turf quality, was analyzed using the geostatistical approach.  Results indicated that large variations in compaction were found in the field.  The worst compacted areas were found at the centerline and east- and west-hash marks, particularly in the region between the two 30-m lines.  After the playing season, mean soil bulk density of the field had increased almost 11% with a turf quality reduction of about 28 %.