SIS Air Core

Introducing SIS Air Core, a subsurface aeration and rainwater management system that gives you control over your pitch growth conditions at the rootzone level and ensures you have a solution for when weather conditions threaten match day. This animation shows you how it works.

Lateral drainage trenches are excavated, and geotextile protected membrane layers are laid. The 600mm closed master main pipes are laid the length of the pitch in two lines. With 150mm perforated air and drainage pipes running laterally in 3.0m intervals, with a gravel drainage layer laid and laser-graded.

Beside the closed main line and connecting lateral air pipes, lies a drainage collector pipe to collect water reaching the lowest level. Gravel layer, irrigation system and undersoil heating/cooling pipes are installed within a 200mm sand layer, before a 100mm rootzone completes the pitch profile.

A concrete water separator is built at one end of the pitch behind the goal. This underground room is made airtight, features water submersible pumps and is used to pressurise and pull air through the network of pipes beneath the pitch.

Within the stadium, the SIS Air Core equipment features powerful two-way fans, heat exchangers and air conditioning units for temperature control (optional), alongside control panels to manage the system. From the plant room or the grounds management room, teams can preset automated programs or override settings to control rootzone temperatures, moisture and oxygen levels. The system allows for real-time monitoring and the operation of both pressure and vacuum modes.

Pressure Mode: Air is pushed through the pipe network and forced up, moving through the soil profile. This enables a cleaner, more aerobic growing environment, promoting cell division, root growth, and the absorption of nutrients. By releasing carbon dioxide from the rootzone and supplying fresh oxygen, the system also promotes beneficial microbial activity, leading to healthier, more disease-resistant grass.

The upward movement of air helps with quicker distribution of warmth or cooling from heating/cooling systems. This ensures less delay in supporting plant health and consistent growing temperatures across the entire pitch are met sooner and more regularly.

Vacuum mode: In heavy rainfall, regular drainage is boosted, and water is removed from the pitch profile significantly quicker. The system will pull the water through the rootzone and away from the surface, but also extract wastewater travelling in drainage pipes much faster for maximum efficiency. Regular maintenance routines will also benefit from the reduction of dew and surface moisture as a result of improved surface airflow.

By stabilising the pitch microclimate and keeping the surface dry, the system improves both playability and turf durability, preventing match cancellations while optimising operational efficiency for maintenance teams.

Conventional drainage will bring excess water into the water separator, where levels are monitored by a smart automated sensor. If the water reaches a critical threshold and Vacuum Mode is not operated manually, the system will automatically trigger the vacuum feature. This ensures that water is pulled rapidly through the main pipework, with the pumps adjusting to the required speed to evacuate water from the stadium and into the main discharge network.

SIS Air Core is an innovative, star performer in the industry and has quickly become a trusted subsurface management system promoting the healthiest natural and hybrid grass surfaces for sport all over the world. From cricket stadiums in the Himalayas to football stadiums in the Premier League and arenas hosting the world’s biggest tournaments, SIS Air Core gives grounds management teams the reassurance they need when planning high-level sports events.