Validating an approach to distributed controller synthesis for irrigation channels via simulation with a PDE model

Large-scale networks of open channels are used around the globe to distribute water for irrigation, often under the power of gravity alone. This paper considers an approach to the design of a distributed feedback controller for regulating water-levels along a channel subject to the variable and uncertain load associated with starting and stopping flow off-takes onto farms and into secondary channels. The approach is based on a simple integrator-delay string model of an irrigation channel. The scope of this paper is to verify that the approach yields a controller that performs adequately for a higher-fidelity model of a channel based on the Saint-Venant equations. To this end, simulation studies are employed.