Decentralized fault-tolerant control of inland navigation networks: a challenge

Inland waterways are large-scale networks used principally for navigation. Even if the transport planning is an important issue, the water resource management is a crucial point. Indeed, navigation is not possible when there is too little or too much water inside the waterways. Hence, the water resource management of waterways has to be particularly efficient in a context of climate change and increase of water demand. This management has to be done by considering different time and space scales and still requires the development of new methodologies and tools in the topics of the Control and Informatics communities. This work addresses the problem of waterways management in terms of modeling, control, diagnosis and fault-tolerant control by focusing in the inland waterways of the north of France. A review of proposed tools and the ongoing research topics are provided in this paper.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: a case for collaborative catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks

The challenge of improving water quality is a growing global concern, typified by the European Commission Water Framework Directive and the United States Clean Water Act. The main drivers of poor water quality are economics, poor water management, agricultural practices and urban development. This paper reviews the extensive role of non-point sources, in particular the outdated agricultural practices, with respect to nutrient and contaminant contributions. Water quality monitoring (WQM) is currently undertaken through a number of data acquisition methods from grab sampling to satellite based remote sensing of water bodies. Based on the surveyed sampling methods and their numerous limitations, it is proposed that wireless sensor networks (WSNs), despite their own limitations, are still very attractive and effective for real-time spatio-temporal data collection for WQM applications. WSNs have been employed for WQM of surface and ground water and catchments, and have been fundamental in advancing the knowledge of contaminants trends through their high resolution observations. However, these applications have yet to explore the implementation and impact of this technology for management and control decisions, to minimize and prevent individual stakeholder’s contributions, in an autonomous and dynamic manner. Here, the potential of WSN-controlled agricultural activities and different environmental compartments for integrated water quality management is presented and limitations of WSN in agriculture and WQM are identified. Finally, a case for collaborative networks at catchment scale is proposed for enabling cooperation among individually networked activities/stakeholders (farming activities, water bodies) for integrated water quality monitoring, control and management

Cooperation, collective action, and the archeology of large-scale societies

Archeologists investigating the emergence of large-scale societies in the past have renewed interest in examining the dynamics of cooperation as a means of understanding societal change and organizational variability within human groups over time. Unlike earlier approaches to these issues, which used models designated voluntaristic or managerial, contemporary research articulates more explicitly with frameworks for cooperation and collective action used in other fields, thereby facilitating empirical testing through better definition of the costs, benefits, and social mechanisms associated with success or failure in coordinated group action. Current scholarship is nevertheless bifurcated along lines of epistemology and scale, which is understandable but problematic for forging a broader, more transdisciplinary field of cooperation studies. Here, we point to some areas of potential overlap by reviewing archeological research that places the dynamics of social cooperation and competition in the foreground of the emergence of large-scale societies, which we define as those having larger populations, greater concentrations of political power, and higher degrees of social inequality. We focus on key issues involving the communal-resource management of subsistence and other economic goods, as well as the revenue flows that undergird political institutions. Drawing on archeological cases from across the globe, with greater detail from our area of expertise in Mesoamerica, we offer suggestions for strengthening analytical methods and generating more transdisciplinary research programs that address human societies across scalar and temporal spectra

Bordos and Boundaries: Sustainable Agriculture in the High Altitude Deserts of Northwest Argentina, AD 850-1532

Bordos were essential for the long-term sustainability of agriculture in the high altitude desert of Antofagasta de la Sierra in Northwest Argentina during the Late (AD 850 – 1480) and Inca Period (AD 1480 – 1532). Bordos were lineal humps of soil that stimulated the pedogenesis of the predominantly sandy soils of the area. Furthermore, they served as boundaries delimiting irrigation and cultivation fields. Therefore, bordos alongside other technologies were an efficient means by which viable farming was possible in an otherwise marginal agricultural zone. Besides explaining the role of bordos in the context of Northwestern Argentine agriculture this article describes the irrigation systems in place at Antofagasta de la Sierra throughout this period and compares it to the present state of affairs. Our results demonstrate that these late Prehispanic bordos and irrigation networks were well set out and organized such that use of water and soil was efficient, proportional and fair. The Inca do not seem to have disrupted these systems or local autonomy over them. In contrast, modern water and soil is characterized by a household-level decentralized management system. This situation leads to serious conflicts over water use allocations, wastage and flawed irrigation resulting in rising ground salinization.Fil: Salminci, Pedro Miguel. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tchilinguirian, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. University of Cambridge. Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology; Reino UnidoFil: Lane, Kevin John. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. University of Cambridge. Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology; Reino Unid

The future direction of on-farm irrigation technologies and practice research

The Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures mission is to facilitate cooperative research and training networks and programs which continuously improve irrigation policy, tools, practices and processes. This paper provides an introduction to the current and planned research activities within the CRCIF with a particular focus on the tools and practices of relevance to improving on-farm water use efficiency. A key focus of this research is the delivery of research outcomes via toolkits which enhance the irrigation sector's ability to measure, monitor and manage the water balance at the field and farm scales, improve the precision of in-field irrigation applications and maximize agronomic responses to irrigation

Human-in-the-Loop Model Predictive Control of an Irrigation Canal

Until now, advanced model-based control techniques have been predominantly employed to control problems that are relatively straightforward to model. Many systems with complex dynamics or containing sophisticated sensing and actuation elements can be controlled if the corresponding mathematical models are available, even if there is uncertainty in this information. Consequently, the application of model-based control strategies has flourished in numerous areas, including industrial applications [1]-[3].Junta de Andalucía P11-TEP-812

Interpreting mega-development projects as territorial traps: the case of irrigation schemes on the shores of Lake Chad (Borno State, Nigeria)

From the colonial era up to the present, mega-irrigation projects for agriculture have played a key role in the production of state space in Sahelian Africa. Transferring a concept proposed by Agnew (1994) onto a different scale, it is possible to interpret these mega-projects as \u201cterritorial traps\u201d. In fact, they set up boundaries (physical, relational, cognitive and operative) that force evolutive trajectories of the areas involved along rigid pathways. In the aftermath of the systematic failure of the mega-projects, farmers are faced with constraints determined by the trap imposed, without having any of the promised benefits in terms of productive growth, i.e. income. In many situations, the farmers have identified \u201ca means of escape\u201d from these catastrophes by transgressing the boundaries imposed by the territorial traps and reintroducing parts of the infrastructure to a common use. The case study presented regards the irrigation mega-projects on the shores of Lake Chad, in Nigeria

Identifying Advantages and Disadvantages of Variable Rate Irrigation – An Updated Review

Variable rate irrigation (VRI) sprinklers on mechanical move irrigation systems (center pivot or lateral move) have been commercially available since 2004. Although the number of VRI, zone or individual sprinkler, systems adopted to date is lower than expected there is a continued interest to harness this technology, especially when climate variability, regulatory nutrient management, water conservation policies, and declining water for agriculture compound the challenges involved for irrigated crop production. This article reviews the potential advantages and potential disadvantages of VRI technology for moving sprinklers, provides updated examples on such aspects, suggests a protocol for designing and implementing VRI technology and reports on the recent advancements. The advantages of VRI technology are demonstrated in the areas of agronomic improvement, greater economic returns, environmental protection and risk management, while the main drawbacks to VRI technology include the complexity to successfully implement the technology and the lack of evidence that it assures better performance in net profit or water savings. Although advances have been made in VRI technologies, its penetration into the market will continue to depend on tangible and perceived benefits by producers