Spatio-temporal investigation of surface soil hardness on professional football field

The present study was conducted to identify the minimum number of sampling points to monitor surface hardness of the pitches through geostatistical methods and to determine spatial and temporal distribution of surface hardness in autumn, winter, spring, and summer periods. Initial samplings were performed from 126 points and with data reduction, the optimum number of sampling points was identified as 77. In upcoming sampling periods, surface hardness and soil temperature were directly measured in situ and disturbed soil samples taken from 77 points were subjected to moisture content, bulk density, and texture analyses (clay—C, silt—Si, and sand—S). In autumn period, surface hardness highly correlated with soil temperature and moisture content ( r 2 = − 0.438 and − 0.344, p