ABSTRACT
Canal automation refers to a wide variety of hydraulic structures, mechanical and electronic hardware, communications, and software used to improve the operation of canals that transmit water and deliver it to users. Early canal automation consisted of hydro/ mechanical devices used to adjust a single canal gate, with the intent of controlling the adjacent water level or flow rate. These local devices evolved over time to include mechanical/electric controllers and finally to electronic control, although many hydro/mechanical gates are still used successfully. A major shift in canal automation resulted from the use of radio or hardwire communication to control all canal structures from a single location. Today, commercially available supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are used for remote, manual supervisory control of canals. The use of a centralized control station (particularly SCADA systems) has also led to the use of computers for the automatic remote control of entire canals. A variety of devices, methods, and control algorithms have been developed for canal automation. These are summarized in Refs.[1,2].
