Water efficiency in smart cities: optimising irrigation for public green spaces

Greening initiatives are urban planning strategies that rely on the development of public green spaces supporting multiple urban system functions. In a global water scarcity context, however, green space irrigation is a key aspect. Dynamic optimisation of irrigation plans is one viable answer for wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: L. Gasser, F. Le Gall, M. Abily
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:LHB Hydroscience Journal
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27678490.2023.2294076
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Summary:Greening initiatives are urban planning strategies that rely on the development of public green spaces supporting multiple urban system functions. In a global water scarcity context, however, green space irrigation is a key aspect. Dynamic optimisation of irrigation plans is one viable answer for water consumption mitigation, which is not widely implemented at municipal levels in the EU. Yet, hydroinformatics-based mature and market-ready methods and technologies can support its implementation and should allow its embedment within the smart-city concept. Here, a simple interoperable approach for optimisation of dynamic irrigation planning has been implemented in public green space parcels of a French Mediterranean coastal city. The approach relies on smart sensors, a water balance model, an optimisation algorithm, and weather forecast data integration, all encapsulated in the standardised and open-source FIWARE ecosystem. The results of the dynamic irrigation plan led to a 35% water saving during the dry season and to more than 60% water saving during the dry–wet season transition period. The used standard technologies and approach could fit a broad range of smart-city digital platforms without any technical challenge.
ISSN:2767-8490