NARROWLY- BOUNDED TURF IRRIGATION SYSTEM SELECTION USING "EXPERT SYSTEM" APPROACH

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Lecturer, Ag. Eng. Dep., Fac. Ag., Ain Shams U., Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Water scarcity in turf and landscape areas and increased water losses by using improper irrigation for narrow turf, or steep slopes cause design problems. Proper irrigation system selection for strips, islands, and areas near buildings, sidewalk, and steep areas is very important to obtain good turf quality, minimum operation, costs and water losses.
The objective of this study includes an expert system (ES) approach to assist proper choice for narrowly-bounded turf strips to get the best appearance and quality for different site conditions for qualifying resources. Results were validated by consultation with domain experts and knowledge available from literature, published research and pertinent experimentation to accommodate case studies using prepared and modified decision table. Six case studies (four actual: A, B, C, and D, and two virtual sites: E and F) including extreme site conditions were used to test the proposed expert system for the proper selection of irrigation system from choices of irrigation systems. "Corvid Exsys" software program was designed to assist proper irrigation selection according to site conditions. The proposed ES and "Corvid Exsys" software were evaluated and tested on actual and virtual case studies, to assisted proper irrigation system selection for narrowly- bounded and sloped areas. The results of proposed ES on selected case studies and "Corvid Exsys" software outcomes were discussed. Results showed that the proposed software assist proper selection of irrigation system according to site conditions and resources including extreme conditions.
The results showed that the subsurface drip irrigation system (SDI) gained the highest score by using case studies (B, C, D, and E) and in case study (A, and F), multi-stream spray gained the highest score compared with other systems.

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