Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 30, No. 4 (2021), 3713-3726 DOI: 10.15244/pjoes/130406 ONLINE PUBLICATION DATE: 2021-04-12 Original Research An Optimized Cloud Model Algorithm Adapted to Comprehensive Benefit Evaluation of Water-Saving Irrigation Shaobo Liu1,2,3, Feng Wu1,2*, Songmei Zai1,2, Shilong Hao4,5, Shah Jahan Leghari6 , Lusheng Li1,2 1College of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450046, China 2Henan Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450046, China 3The Water Conservancy Bureau of Nanyang, Nanyang, Henan Province 473000, China 4Henan Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project Water SourceArea, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, Henan Province 473000, China 5College of Surveying and Geo-informatics, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450046, China 6College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China Received: 9 September 2020 Accepted: 12 November 2020 Abstract The comprehensive benefit evaluation of water-saving irrigation in the irrigated areas is a complex and dynamic evaluation system. According to the characteristics of randomness and fuzziness of the system, an optimized cloud model algorithm for the comprehensive benefit evaluation of water-saving irrigation in the irrigated areas was constructed, and the calculation of the weight cloud model was optimized. At the same time, taking Yahekou as the research area, an evaluation system considering the ecological, economic, and social benefits was established, and the comprehensive benefits of water- saving irrigation in this area were evaluated with the optimization algorithm. The results showed that the comprehensive benefit of water-saving irrigation in the Yahekou irrigated area was evaluated as grade II “good” , selecting the Normal-Water-Level-Year as a typical year, following the life cycle of winter wheat-summer maize rotation mode as the time scale. The optimization algorithm not only ensures the accuracy of evaluation results but also takes into account the uncertainty of each index factor. It opens up a new way for the comprehensive benefit evaluation of water-saving irrigation in the *e-mail: [email protected] 3714 Liu S., et al. research area and provides a new idea for the application and optimization of the cloud model algorithm, which has certain popularization value. Keywords: water-saving irrigation, ecology, cloud model, comprehensive evaluation, optimized algorithm Introduction preliminary design and planning of water-saving irrigation systems. Depleting water resources is one of the major In recent years, researchers evaluated water-saving issues，which is listed as the biggest global potential irrigation by using analytic hierarchy process [7, 8], risk in the next decade [1]. Worldwide, agricultural water footprint model [9, 10], BP neural network irrigation provides 40% of the energy supply and model [11], entropy weight method [12], fuzzy consumes 70% of the water [2]. An important way comprehensive evaluation method [13, 14] and principal to deal with the water crisis in many countries is to component analysis method [15], etc. They achieved improve the efficiency of irrigation and distribute the outstanding results. However, there is still room for water saved in agricultural production to industry, improvement: people and the ecological environment [3]. In China, (1) Evaluation scale. The effect of small-scale according to statistics (Water Resources Bulletin), water-saving irrigation in fields is different from that irrigation water consumption in agricultural production in large-scale such as irrigated areas or river basins, accounts for 60-65% of the total water consumption. due to factors such as reuse of return water during The Chinese government has always attached irrigation. Therefore, the evaluation index system and great importance to the issue of agricultural water evaluation method used on a large scale should not be conservation. In 1998, the third plenary session of confused with those used on a small scale. Meanwhile, the 15th central committee of the communist party of the comprehensive benefit of water-saving irrigation in China proposed that “The promotion of water-saving the irrigated areas is different in different hydrological irrigation should be taken as a revolutionary measure”. years and time scales. On September 18, 2019, general secretary Xi-Jinping (2) The evaluation process and results are greatly hosted a symposium on ecological protection and influenced by human factors. On the one hand, research quality development of the Yellow River basin in teams and experts in different fields have different Zhengzhou. The symposium focusing on the global concerns, and there are different emphases in the ecological civilization construction，further defined evaluation system of water-saving irrigation, which the "Water-saving priority, space balance, system directly affects the construction of the evaluation management, two-handed force" as the idea of water system, the selection of indicators, the establishment conservancy. It emphasized that we should adhere to of index weight and the scientific rationality of the the concept that clear waters and green mountains are evaluation results. The evaluation lacks objectivity. as good as mountains of gold and silver, give priority At present, the research focuses more on the positive to ecology, pursue green development, and further benefits of water-saving irrigation and ignores the strengthen ecological and environmental protection negative benefits that water-saving irrigation projects in river basins. Moreover, he combined agricultural may produce. water-saving with ecological protection, the whole (3) The phenomenons like focusing on the efficiency basin, comprehensive management and systematic of water resources utilization, paying attention to the management, and put forward new requirements, new evaluation of the economy, and ignoring the assessment ideas and new goals for agricultural water-saving in the of its impact on the ecological environment are new era. widespread. In fact, for water-saving irrigation, the most Around the world, while water-saving irrigation is active factors and the most direct objectives are “water- in full swing, some scholars have carried out rational saving” and “food conservation”, the important purpose thinking and relevant research on whether water-saving is the ecological benefit, and the most fundamental irrigation can save water and whether it has negative end-result is a social benefit. Economic and ecological effects [3-6]. benefits will eventually return to social benefit. Studies show that the blind improvement of the (4) The limitation of the evaluation scope. Most of utilization efficiency of irrigation water in water-saving the relevant studies at present focused on the evaluation irrigation projects may not save water and may have of the benefits within a specific area such as farmland, some negative effects on the ecological environment. irrigated areas and river basins, meanwhile few consider The main reason is that various departments take more the influence of water-saving irrigation projects on the account of their own economic interests. Meanwhile, outside areas. However, the water-saving irrigation they lack more scientific and reasonable comprehensive project in the region will also have a certain impact on evaluation system and indicators. In addition, they the outside of the region in terms of ecology, economy take less account of something overall macro in the and society. An Optimized Cloud Model Algorithm Adapted... 3715 Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a multi-criteria 14.9ºC, evaporation rate of 558 mm and precipitation decision-making method that quantitatively describes of 802.7 mm. The area is composed of Baitong qualitative problems by decomposing the problems and Yadong irrigated areas. The Baitong irrigated to be solved as a system. Analytic hierarchy process areas draw water from Dazhantou dam, which is (AHP) is simple and easy to use, but it has some 20 kilometers below the dam of the Yahekou reservoir, problems: judgment matrix has a great dependence and the Yadong irrigated area draw water from on experts’ subjective experience, and the fuzziness Yahekou reservoir directly. The designed irrigation and randomness between evaluation indexes are not area of the Yahekou irrigated areas is 158 733.33 ha, well expressed. Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation the effective irrigation area of the Yahekou irrigated (FCE) is a multi-criteria decision-making method areas is 88 400 ha. Through carrying on supporting that transforms qualitative problems into quantitative and water-saving transformation in recent years, the problems by establishing membership functions. actual maximum irrigation area of the irrigated areas Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method can solve has expanded from about 66 666.67 ha in 1998 to the problem of fuzziness of the evaluation object, 106 666.67 ha in 2018. but it can not solve the problem of subjectivity and randomness of the evaluation process. Cloud model Construction of Index System (CM) fully describes the inevitable uncertainties like randomness and fuzziness in the qualitative description The basis and key for scientifically carrying by establishing an uncertainty transformation model out the comprehensive benefit evaluation of water- between