- Overview: Understanding the Settings of the Moisture Color Bar

In the turfRad Portal, on the right side of the Overview map, you’ll find the moisture color bar.
Here you can:

• choose your Target moisture level (green)
• adjust the MIN (red) and MAX (blue) thresholds
• or, in Sprinkler View and Discrete View, adjust the HIGH (blue) and LOW (orange) settings that classify sprinklers into moisture categories

These settings influence how the moisture data is being displayed — and they each serve a different purpose.

Graphic: left = MIN/MAX settings in Overview tab; right = HIGH/LOW settings in Sprinkler View and Discrete View

1. MIN/MAX in Overview Tab - Adjust Map Contrast

MIN and MAX control the endpoints of the color scale:

• MIN → moisture level shown as dark red (very dry)
• MAX → moisture level shown as dark blue (very wet)
• Default range: MIN = 0% (very dry) → MAX = 50% (very wet)

This is useful when you want more contrast to highlight subtle moisture differences, and your typical moisture range is narrower than the default settings.

Graphic: Same fairway, two different MIN/MAX settings → notice how contrast changes what becomes visible.

2. HIGH/LOW in Sprinkler View – Control Category Boundaries

In Sprinkler View, the color bar categorizes sprinklers into 5 categories: Very Wet, Wet, Target, Dry, Very Dry. The HIGH/LOW settings determine which sprinklers fall into which categories.

Graphic: In the first screenshot, the HIGH/LOW range is wide, so most sprinklers fall into the “Target” category. In the second, narrowing the HIGH/LOW range reveals more Wet/Dry variation across the same area.

3. HIGH/LOW in Discrete View – Define Pixel Color Breaks

The Discrete View displays moisture as five solid color bands, rather than a gradient. HIGH/LOW here control where those color transitions occur:

• HIGH → when pixels turn blue (wet)
• LOW → when pixels turn orange/red (dry)

This helps because “wet” or “dry” means something different on every course:

• A sand-based profile may consider 22% VWC “wet”
• A native-soil profile may consider 30% “wet”
• A links-style course may define “dry” much lower

Adjust HIGH/LOW to match your real course conditions.

Graphic: Same discrete map, two HIGH/LOW settings → dramatically different visibility of wet/dry extremes.

Putting It All Together

• MIN/MAX → change contrast of the heatmap (Overview tab)
• HIGH/LOW (Sprinkler View) → change sprinkler categories
• HIGH/LOW (Discrete View) → change pixel color thresholds

Each setting shows the same data from a different perspective — helping you diagnose moisture patterns or irrigation performance more effectively.