Modeling and Identification of Irrigation Channel Dynamics Affected by Wind

Abstract

In this paper, models of open water canals affected by wind stress are derived from first principles and system identification experiments. We show that by adding wind speed and wind direction information to the Saint Venant equations, a physical model capable of describing the actual channel dynamics is obtained. Further, a control-oriented transfer function model is proposed to describe the water level response to wind stress. Validation results using operational data collected from the Waranga Western Main Channel in Australia when strong winds were blowing support our models. The finding will contribute to improve automated water management systems in canals.