Where you install a Spiio™ Soil Sensor can have a significant impact on the conditions it measures.

Soil moisture and temperature can vary considerably across the same fairway or managed turf area due to differences in sunlight, slope, elevation, compaction, drainage, irrigation, and other site characteristics. Because each sensor measures the conditions at its specific location, choosing locations that match your management goals can help you get more useful information from your sensor network.

Research conducted by Elisabeth Kitchin and Travis Roberson of Syngenta Digital Platforms evaluated how environmental variability affects Spiio sensor readings and how those differences can be used to guide sensor placement.

Important note: This study and its findings are based specifically on bermudagrass fairway field conditions. While the findings can help guide sensor placement in similar environments, the same principles may not directly translate to other managed turf areas, such as golf course greens. The recommendations in this article should therefore be considered in the context of bermudagrass fairway conditions rather than as universal sensor placement or sensor quantity recommendations.

Before choosing a sensor location, consider what you want the sensor to represent.

You may want to monitor:

Different locations may be better suited to each goal.

If you want a sensor to provide readings that are generally representative of the surrounding managed area, choose a location that is:

These locations are less likely to represent an environmental extreme and can be useful when using sensor data to support general irrigation decisions.

If your goal is to identify areas that are likely to dry out faster or experience water stress, consider placing sensors in:

The study found that sunnier locations generally had lower average soil moisture and more variable readings. Steeper slopes also tended to lose moisture more quickly following rainfall or irrigation.

Highly compacted areas tended to have lower average moisture as well, making these locations potentially useful for identifying areas that may require targeted irrigation or soil-management practices.

To monitor areas that may retain water or remain wet longer, consider:

Low-lying areas can collect runoff and remain wetter for longer periods, while shaded areas generally experience less moisture loss than highly sun-exposed locations.

Monitoring these areas can help identify locations where reduced irrigation or other management adjustments may be appropriate.

If your goal is to monitor potential heat stress, consider placing sensors in:

Sun exposure was one of the strongest environmental factors associated with differences in sensor behavior in the study.

The study evaluated several environmental and site characteristics, including elevation, slope, aspect, topographic position, shade, and soil compaction.

Daily sunlight was the strongest measured environmental correlate of long-term soil moisture.

Sunnier locations tended to:

This makes highly exposed areas particularly useful when the goal is to identify dynamic or stress-prone conditions.

More compacted locations tended to have lower average soil moisture and greater stability over time.

Monitoring compacted areas may help identify locations that require targeted irrigation or soil-management practices. The study found that compaction had negligible effects on soil temperature.

Topography can also influence how water moves through an area.

Steeper slopes tended to shed water more quickly, resulting in drier readings and greater moisture loss following rainfall or irrigation. Lower landscape positions tended to collect runoff and remain wetter for longer.

Aspect, the direction a slope faces, showed a smaller influence on temperature and drying and was not strongly correlated with sensor behavior.

When installing multiple Spiio sensors, consider using a combination of representative and extreme-condition locations.

For example, representative sensors can help support general irrigation scheduling, while sensors in particularly dry or wet locations can help identify areas that may require supplemental or reduced irrigation.

Strategic sensor placement can provide a more useful picture of environmental variability without simply placing sensors uniformly across an area.

Sensor placement should match your management goal.

For general monitoring, choose relatively level, moderately sunny, moderate-to-low-compaction locations. If you want to identify specific challenges, intentionally place sensors in dry, wet, highly exposed, compacted, or otherwise distinctive areas.

Remember that environmental characteristics are only part of the picture. In the study, the measured environmental variables explained approximately 21% of the variation in soil moisture over the three-month study period.

Other factors including soil texture, drainage, irrigation distribution, organic matter, water infiltration, and subsurface lateral movement are also likely to influence sensor readings.

The recommendations in this article are based on the 2026 study “Putting Sensors in Their Place: Understanding Environmental Variability to Guide Sensor Placement,” conducted as part of the Syngenta Digital Platforms Summer 2026 Internship.

Study authors, data creators, and data owners: Elisabeth Kitchin and Travis Roberson, Syngenta Digital Platforms.

The study evaluated Spiio Soil Sensor data alongside elevation, slope, aspect, topographic position, shade, and soil compaction to better understand how environmental variability can inform sensor placement. The research builds on a sensor network installed at Independence Golf Club in Richmond, Virginia.