Pogo Turf Pro System Manual page 80

EC – Electrical Conductivity, or Salinity
EC (Salinity in dS/m) is a second agronomy variable measured directly by the POGO. Since all salts, positive or negative (+ / - cations and anions)
add to EC as the turf sees it, the POGO measures this total salinity that the turf sees. By definition, a salt only affects EC when it is in solution. As
salts precipitate out of solution and bind to turf parts or soil and rootzone components as very small and microscopic solids, these no longer have
an impact on EC as the turf sees it. Only when moisture becomes available and the salts go back into solution does the EC get affected.
This is very important to understand because one of the first things you will notice is that the POGO's EC measurements are not in line with what
you may have seen on a lab analysis where one or more EC measurements may have been made. Generally, labs will do a paste extract
(saturation paste extract, or ECe) analysis. This process involved saturating a soil sample, allowing it to stay in that condition for some time and
then sucking out the moisture from that sample and measuring the EC that is in that solution. Your turf may or may not ever see that condition
depending on how you manage your operation, irrigation practices and other inputs you control. If you maintained saturated conditions all the
time, then the POGO's measurement would likely be closer in line with what you see from a lab...but of course, you would be out of job with
poor surface conditions due to this saturation!
POGO measures salinity as the turf sees it at that point in time. It is also a measurement of all salts from the surface through the most prominent
component of the rootzone that influences moisture and salinity. For a review of this, visit 'The Unique POGO Integrated Sensor' in this manual.
Like moisture, there is no optimal EC for everyone. Since EC is affected by irrigation, fertilization, turf type and aggressiveness, rootzone medium,
compaction, organic matter, microbial activity, environmental influences and several other factors, it too will vary from course to course. Even on
courses with similar grasses, rootzones and influences will we see different EC values. The POGO Turf and Soil Analysis identifies the optimal
range of EC's for your turf system precisely.
Otherwise, you have to measure your turf repeatedly for a good month or two to understand the life pulse of your turf as it is influenced by your
operational inputs. Only then will you see patterns that make sense and indicate your optimal range of EC for your turf system. You can correlate
clipping yield, for instance with the available EC measured by POGO. Or, on the flip side, you can see what looks like LDS (localized dry spot,
discoloration of turf) influenced by high EC so that it is not LDS at all but a yellowing from high EC as the turf sees it.