Real-time model predictive control of surface irrigation for cotton: setup of field trial

Adaptive control strategies have been developed for real-time management of irrigation. A closed-loop irrigation control system requires: (1) some combination of weather, soil, plant and irrigation data (2) control strategy to determine irrigation application and/or timing \n(3) actuator hardware to adjust irrigation application. \n \n'VARIwise' framework develops and simulates site-specific irrigation control strategies. VARIwise has been adapted to determine site-specific irrigation requirements of cotton. \n \nA model predictive control strategy has been applied to surface irrigation by: \n- calibrating a crop production model using the available weather, soil and plant data \n- using the crop model to predict the irrigation timing and/or volume that produces the desired performance \n- using the surface irrigation model SISCO to determine the irrigation flow rate and advance trajectory that best corresponds to the optimal irrigation distribution