Innovation Guide 2023 - 8

Dr. Sabastian Pfausch presents the data
showing differences within the Olympic
Park area shown on the " Park Now "
application.
rainfall and wind speed. All data is
then analyzed by an artificial intelligence
(AI) engine that reviews historical
and current predictions against
park management and how these results
match with target soil moisture
levels in each of the 200 individual
irrigation zones. This process assists
park management with saving water
and mitigating summer heat.
SIMPaCT's
sensors
monitor
a
broad range of parameters, including
soil moisture, relative humidity,
wind direction, wind speed, precipitation
and other information that is
uploaded in real time to an Olympic
Park Digital Twin, which then runs
many iterations to calculate the most
efficient irrigation method to optimize
evapotranspiration (the release
of moisture through leaves).
A tall tree with a large crown can
transpire 300 to 600 liters (79 to 159
gallons) of water on a summer day,
which provides effective cooling, in
addition to its shading effect. Apart
from trees, grass, shrubs and other
forms of vegetation also transpire
water.
SIMPaCT's analysis is also available
to park users on SIMPaCT's
" Park Now " application, which allows
people to identify where in the
park is best to play, exercise or walk
their dog. As Pfautsch notes, during
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,
" parks were a critical refuge
where people could get out of their
homes to decompress during quarantine "
- emphasizing their role in
providing relief from not only urban
heat, but also psychological stress.
vides
For park managers, SIMPaCT proquantitative
monitoring that
shows the impact of irrigation on
parameters - such as soil moisture,
plant health and air temperature -
and provides suggested irrigation
adjustments that are uploaded to the
irrigation system each night.
SIMPaCT has been designed
with scalability in mind. Funded by
the Smart Places Acceleration program
of the NSW Government and
Sydney Water, supported by Sydney
Olympic Park Authority - the
agency responsible for Olympic Park
- SIMPaCT is a park management
solution that can be further used to
remotely
operate smart
irrigation
systems in other urban green spaces
of different sizes locally, nationally
and internationally.
SIMPaCT also is interested in resource
conservation, especially in
water-sensitive Sydney. The municipal
utility, Sydney Water, is a project
partner and aims to reduce water use
by 15 percent in two years. But, unlike
other commercial solutions, its main
focus is using urban green space to optimize
thermal conditions. The project
already has won the 2023 IoT [InterSmart
Irrigation Management for Parks
and Cool Towns (SIMPaCT) provides quantitative
monitoring that shows the impact
of irrigation on parameters and provides
suggested irrigation adjustments.
8
Parks & Recreation | 2 0 2 3 INNO V AT ION GUIDE | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
PHOTO COURTESY OF SMART IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT
FOR PARKS AND COOL TOWNS (SIMPACT)
PHOTO COURTESY OF SIMPACT
Innovation Guide 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Innovation Guide 2023
