Finite sample quality assessment of system identification models of irrigation channels

In this paper, we consider the problem of assessing the quality of system identification models of irrigation channels obtained using least squares methods. A first order nonlinear model of the water level is used, and previous work has shown that this model gives a good description of the dynamics on control purposes. A method for quality assessment valid for a finite number of data points is developed based on previous works by the authors, and the method is applied to the model of the channel. The method gives us a bound on the uncertainty in the parameter estimate, and by transferring this bound to the frequency domain, we obtain an error bound on the transfer function useful for control design.