Optimal Furrow Design. II: Explicit Calculation of Design Variables

Abstract

The furrow irrigation system design problem (at minimum cost) is significantly simplified by analytically solving it. For a specified furrow length, a simple algebraic equation is derived to directly calculate the appropriate inflow rate (and cutoff time) so that the minimum cost of the furrow system is obtained. The proposed equation is independent of the water and labor cost coefficients. Comparison tests indicated that the optimum inflow rate values obtained analytically were in close agreement to the optimum values obtained using the outcome of the zero-inertia numerical model. The method is extended for furrow design considering the furrow length also as a design variable. The optimum number of distribution lines and widthwise furrow sets are easily determined by a simple calculation procedure.