Reengineering the Baldree Traffic Simulator for turfgrass wear and traffic research

Abstract Historically, turfgrass researchers utilized the Baldree Traffic Simulator (BTS) to imitate foot traffic for the evaluation of athletic field wear tolerance and performance. Research was conducted to reengineer the BTS “feet” to improve adaptability and compatibility with other aerification units and determine biophysical effects on two native soil turfgrass systems. Inertial measurement unit sensors measured vertical accelerations and derived total force output. Additionally, low (one traffic event week −1 ) and high (two traffic events week −1 ) traffic were applied to IronCutter hybrid bermudagrass [ Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt‐Davy] and Zorro hybrid zoysiagrass [ Zoysia japonica Steud. × Z. matrella (L.) Merr.] for 8 weeks. Average peak vertical accelerations were 280 m s −1 m −2 , which is a total force output of 8221 N per BTS footstrike. Neither the low nor high traffic increased bermudagrass soil bulk density; however, high traffic (1.13 g cm −3 ) increased soil bulk density compared to the non‐treated (0.92 g cm −3 ) zoysiagrass. High traffic decreased normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; 0.75), turfgrass cover (71%), and shear strength (12.3 Nm) of bermudagrass while increasing surface hardness (156 Gmax) compared to low traffic (0.79, 94%, 14.4 Nm, and 141 Gmax, respectively). Both low and high traffic reduced NDVI (0.68–0.69) and turfgrass cover (64%–69%) on zoysiagrass compared to the same plots before traffic (0.86% and 100%, respectively). High traffic (90 Gmax) increased surface hardness compared to low traffic (106 Gmax) on zoysiagrass. The modified BTS can effectively simulate traffic for turfgrass research.