Development of a simulation–optimization model with a multi-objective framework for automatic design of a furrow irrigation system

Abstract

The major problem of furrow irrigation systems is their low efficiency resulting from weakness in design and irrigation management. Flow rate, furrow length and cut-off time are the most important furrow irrigation design parameters that affect efficiency and irrigation management. Therefore, in this paper, it is attempted to provide optimal values of these parameters by optimizing them in a simulation–optimization framework. This is a combination of FURDEV (a module of SURDEV) and AMALGAM as a multi-objective optimization algorithm developed in MATLAB. Here, maximizing the application and the water requirement (storage) efficiencies and minimizing the percolation and tail water ratios simultaneously were considered as the objectives. This framework was used for five open-ended furrow irrigations with corn yield and loam soil texture. The results showed that the increase of 0 to 40.5% in the flow rate, from 23.2 to 66.9% during the furrow and 18.9% up to 11.9% at the cut-off time, caused the application efficiency to increase by between 13.8 and 44.9%. Also, the water requirement efficiency increased by 14.2–76.8%, and the tail water ratio decreased significantly. It is shown that this framework plays an effective role in improving irrigation efficiency.