Soil moisture
Record probe readings, set your moisture thresholds, see which greens need action, and compare readings with the weather-modelled water balance
On this page
The Soil Moisture page brings your handheld probe readings and TurfWise's weather-modelled water balance together, so you can see how wet or dry every green really is.
Where do I find it?
Click Irrigation in the top bar, then Water, then Moisture. (The Course menu's Soil Moisture page opens the same measured readings.)
At the top you'll find three views:
- Measured — your handheld probe readings, thresholds and decisions. This is where the page opens.
- Irrigated — a modelled irrigation guide for the surfaces you water.
- Outfield — a modelled water balance for areas you don't irrigate.
Every figure is labelled with where it came from and how fresh it is. An old figure is never shown as if it were live.
Premium
On Core you can record, review and export measured readings, and create tasks from them. The Recent decision work list is part of Premium, and so are the Irrigated and Outfield views, which use the water balance. See Core and Premium plans.
How do I record a reading?
Readings taken in the field on the TurfWise mobile app appear here automatically. You can also log one on the desktop.
Click Log
The Log moisture reading window opens.
Enter the reading
Type the VWC % — the volumetric water content your probe shows, between 0 and 100. Pick the Depth: surface, 25mm, 50mm, 100mm or 150mm.
Add the location
Enter the Latitude and Longitude, or click Use my location if you're standing on the spot.
Fill in the details
Check the Date and Time, and choose the Green if the reading belongs to one. You can also add the Hole, the Meter you used (for example POGO) and any Notes.
Click Save
The reading appears in Recent readings and feeds the cards above it.
Tag readings to a green
Only readings tagged to a green count towards that green's status, its decision and the dry and wet counts. Readings without a green still appear in the list and the trend chart.
To correct a reading, click the pencil icon next to it in Recent readings.
Can I import readings from my probe?
Yes. Click Import file and choose the file your meter exports. TurfWise reads FieldScout TDR 350 downloads, SpecConnect and POGO exports, and any spreadsheet saved as CSV with Date, Moisture (or VWC), Latitude and Longitude columns. A Zone or Area column also works if your readings have no GPS.
Choose the file
TurfWise reads the file and tells you how many readings it found and over which dates.
Check the dates if asked
A date like 03/04/2026 can mean 3 April or 4 March. If nothing in the file settles it, pick how your meter writes dates.
Check where they land
The preview shows how many readings land on each green, with the average. A reading taken inside a mapped area, or within 15 metres of one, goes to that area. A reading on the course but off every mapped area is kept with its position. A reading more than 2 km from your course is left out.
Import
Click Import. The readings appear here, on the heatmap and in Agronomic Outcomes.
Importing twice is safe
A reading already in TurfWise is skipped, so you can import the meter's whole file each time without making doubles.
What does the Measured view show?
Choose a period at the top — 30d, 90d, 1 yr or Custom. You'll then see:
- Summary cards — Average VWC, Greens measured, Dry greens and Wet greens.
- Green moisture map — a satellite map with each reading as a dot and each green coloured by its status. Click a green to see its latest, driest and wettest spots. (This only appears once your greens are traced on the course map.)
- Moisture trend — daily average VWC with the day's range shaded around it.
- A card for each green — its status, its driest spot and its average.
- Greens needing action — see below.
- Recent decision work — tasks already created from moisture decisions.
- Recent readings — the latest readings in a table.
How is a green's status decided?
Each reading falls into one of five bands. Out of the box they are:
- Dry — below 14%
- Low — 14% up to 18%
- Optimal — 18% to 30%
- High — above 30%, up to 45%
- Wet — above 45%
A green takes the status of its worst spot, using the latest reading at each spot. So one dry corner is enough to flag the whole green — which is what you'd want.
How do I change the thresholds?
Click Thresholds. In Applies to, choose All greens (course default) or a single green. Then set Dry below (%), Optimal from (%), Optimal to (%) and Wet above (%).
The values must go up in order, at least 0.5% apart. A threshold for a single green overrides the course default.
What does "Greens needing action" tell me?
TurfWise turns each green's status into a suggested action. Each row shows how serious it is (Critical, Warning or Watch), the action and the reason.
- Irrigate now — the green is dry or low and its water deficit has reached the trigger.
- Hand water — the green is dry or low, but the deficit hasn't reached the trigger yet.
- Hold — the green is high or wet. Hold off watering.
Greens that are Optimal (Monitor) or have no readings (Measure) aren't listed here — you'll see their status on the green cards instead.
Turning a decision into work
- Create task puts a job on today's plan — "Irrigate" is urgent and "Hand water" is high priority. If a task already exists, you'll see Start work instead.
- Log follow-up opens the reading form with the green already chosen, so you can check the result.
What are the Irrigated and Outfield views?
These views don't use your probe. They use the weather-driven water balance described in Water balance and water applied.
- Irrigated shows greens, tees, fairways, approaches, practice and nursery surfaces. It's a budget and guide — daily water demand and a recommendation — rather than a measured moisture level.
- Outfield shows rough and other non-irrigated areas. Here the weather model is the best drought guide you have, with no probe needed.
Pick a Strategy at the top — Firm & Fast, Balanced or Plant Health Protection. It changes the trigger used for the guide.
Each surface card shows its deficit against the trigger, a label saying the figure is modelled from the weather, and how fresh it is. Click Show water budget chart to see rain, irrigation and ET loss day by day, with a five-day forecast tail. On irrigated surfaces, Log irrigation → takes you to the surface's page, or use Log a run on Water › Runs applied.
Sync needed
If a surface's figure is more than three days old, TurfWise hides the number and shows Sync needed. Out-of-date deficits aren't safe to act on. The water balance normally updates itself overnight, so if this persists, check your weather location in Settings › Weather.
The measured cards at the top
- Reading-anchored greens deficit starts from your recent probe readings and rolls them forward with the weather model. Take a fresh reading to re-anchor it.
- On-site soil sensor appears if your club has a soil probe on its weather station. It shows soil-water tension in centibars — higher means drier. This is not a VWC %.
Can I export my readings?
Yes. Click Export to download every reading in the selected period as a CSV spreadsheet, with date, time, location, hole, VWC, depth, coordinates, meter and notes.