A Receding Horizon Control algorithm for adaptive management of soil moisture and chemical levels during irrigation

The capacity to adaptively manage irrigation and associated contaminant transport is desirable from the perspectives of water conservation, groundwater quality protection, and other concerns. This paper introduces the application of a feedback-control strategy known as Receding Horizon Control (RHC) to the problem of irrigation management. The RHC method incorporates sensor measurements, predictive models, and optimization algorithms to maintain soil moisture at certain levels or prevent contaminant propagation beyond desirable thresholds. Theoretical test cases are first presented to examine the RHC scheme performance for the control of soil moisture and nitrate levels in a soil irrigation problem. Then, soil moisture control is successfully demonstrated for a center-pivot system in Palmdale, CA where reclaimed water is used for agricultural irrigation. Real-time soil moisture, temperature, and meteorological data were streamed wirelessly to a field computer to enable autonomous execution of the RHC algorithm. The RHC scheme is demonstrated to be a viable strategy for achieving water reuse and agricultural objectives while minimizing negative impacts on environmental quality.