Estimation of FAO Blaney-Criddle b Factor by RBF Network

This technical note presents the application of a Radial Basis Function (RBF) network to estimate the FAO Blaney-Criddle b factor. Tabular b values are given in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Irrigation and Drainage Paper Number 24. The b values obtained by the RBF network are compared to the appropriate b values produced using regression equations. The RBF network predicted b values better than the regression equations. An example is given to illustrate the simplicity and accuracy of the RBF network for b factor estimation.