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The need for water conservation continues to increase as global freshwater resources dwindle. Turfgrass mangers are adapting to these concerns by implementing new tools to reduce water consumption. Time-domain reflectometer (TDR) soil moisture sensors can decrease water usage when scheduling irrigation, but nonuniformity across unsampled locations creates irrigation inefficiencies. Remote sensing data have been used to estimate soil moisture stress in turfgrass systems through the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). However, numerous stressors other than moisture constraints impact NDVI values. The water band index (WBI) is an alternative index that uses narrowband, near-infrared light reflectance to estimate moisture limitations within the plant canopy. The green-to-red ratio index (GRI) is a vegetation index that has been proposed as a cheaper alternative to WBI as it can be measured using digital values of visible light instead of relying on more costly hyperspectral reflectance measurements. A replicated 2 × 3 factorial experimental design was used to repeatedly measure turf canopy reflectance and soil moisture over time as soils dried. Pots of ‘007’ creeping bentgrass (CBG) and ‘Latitude 36’ hybrid bermudagrass (HBG) were grown on three soil textures: United States Golf Association (USGA) 90:10 sand, loam, and clay. Reflectance data were collected hourly between 07:00 and 19:00 using a hyperspectral radiometer and volumetric water content (VWC) data were collected continuously using an embedded soil moisture sensor from soil saturation until complete turf necrosis by drought stress. The WBI had the strongest relationship to VWC (r = 0.62) compared to GRI (r = 0.56) and NDVI (r = 0.47). The WBI and GRI identified significant moisture stress approximately 28 h earlier than NDVI (p = 0.0010). Those metrics also predicted moisture stress prior to fifty percent visual estimation of wilt (p = 0.0317), with lead times of 1

The need for water conservation continues to increase as global freshwater resources dwindle. In response, many golf course superintendents are implementing new methods and tools to become more frugal with their water applications. For example, scheduling irrigation using time-domain reflectometer (TDR) soil moisture sensors can decrease water usage. Still, TDR measurements are time-consuming and only cover small scales, leading to many locations being unsampled. Remotely sensed data such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) offer the potential of estimating moisture stress across larger scales; however, NDVI measurements are influenced by numerous stressors beyond moisture availability, thus limiting its reliability for irrigation decisions. An alternative vegetation index, the water band index (WBI), is primarily influenced by water absorption within a narrow spectral range of near-infrared light. Previous research has established strong relationships between moisture stress of creeping bentgrass (CBG) grown on sand-based root zones, a typical scenario for golf course putting greens. However, this relationship characterizes only a small portion of total acreage across golf courses, which limits widespread adoption. In our research, '007' CBG and 'Latitude 36'hybrid bermudagrass (HBG) were grown on three soil textures, USGA 90:10 sand (S), sand loam (SL) and clay (C), arranged in a 2 x 3 factorial design, randomized within six individual dry-down cycles serving as replications. Canopy reflectance and volumetric water content (VWC) data were collected hourly between 0700 and 1900 hr using a hyperspectral radiometer and an embedded soil moisture sensor, until complete turf necrosis. The WBI had the strongest relationship to VWC (r = 0.62) and visual estimations of wilt (r = -0.91) compared to the green-to-red ratio index (GRI) or NDVI. Parameters associated with non-linear regression were analyzed to compare grasses, soils, indices, and their interact