Alfonso Torres-Rua

Water

Associate Professor


Alfonso Torres-Rua

Contact Information

Office Hours: By Appointment
Office Location: UWRL 234A
Phone: 435-797-0397
Email: alfonso.torres@usu.edu
Additional Information:

Educational Background

PhD, Civil Engineering, (Water Resources), Utah State University, 2011
Bayesian Data-Driven Models for Irrigation Water Management
MS, Irrigation Engineering, Utah State University, 2006
Transition Submergence and Hysteresis Effects in three-foot Cutthroat Flumes
BS, Agricultural Engineering, La Molina National Agrarian University, 2000
Technical and Economic Assessment of a Drip Irrigation System in the Fund Agrocurumuy, Piura

Biography

Alfonso Torres-Rua is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University and Lead of the AggieAir Drone Program. His research focuses on advancing water resources management through the integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), satellite remote sensing, environmental modeling, and artificial intelligence.

His work develops innovative methods to monitor evapotranspiration, crop water use, plant stress, irrigation performance, and ecosystem conditions across agricultural, urban, and natural landscapes. Through collaborations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, he has contributed to the development and application of remote sensing technologies for water-limited environments.

Dr. Torres-Rua's research combines physical understanding of water processes with data-driven approaches to improve decision-making for agriculture, water resources, and environmental management. His long-term vision is to enable autonomous environmental sensing systems that support resilient water management, sustainable food production, and climate adaptation in arid and semi-arid regions.

Teaching Interests

Remote Sensing, Precision Agriculture, Agricultural Water Management

Research Interests

My research addresses the challenge of understanding and managing water across agricultural, urban, and natural systems in a changing climate. I develop and apply drone-based, ground-based, and satellite remote sensing technologies to quantify water use, evapotranspiration, plant stress, irrigation performance, and ecosystem functioning.

A central focus of my work is the integration of environmental sensing, machine learning, computer vision, and physical process models to generate actionable information for resource managers, producers, and decision-makers. I am particularly interested in combining physics-based and data-driven approaches to improve the accuracy, scalability, and operational use of environmental monitoring systems.

Current research activities include autonomous environmental sensing, evapotranspiration estimation, precision irrigation, agricultural water management, artificial intelligence applications in remote sensing, digital agriculture, climate resilience, and water sustainability. Through these efforts, I seek to advance the development of intelligent systems that support efficient water use and resilient landscapes in arid and semi-arid regions.

Awards

Outstanding Graduate Mentor of the Year, 2022

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

HydroLearn Educational Development Training, 2021

National Science Foundation

CEE Department Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year, 2020

Utah State University

Visiting Professor- Agricultural Engineering, 2019

La Molina National Agrarian University

Faculty Development Symposium Scholarship, 2019

National Science Foundation

Nominee to the EPA FY 2020 membership for the Agricultural Sciences Committee , 2019

Environmental Protection Agency

Top 2017-2018 Downloaded Article, 2019

Irrigation and Drainage Journal - Wiley

UWRL Outstanding Faculty Spotlight, 2019

Utah State University

Faculty Development Symposium Scholarship, 2018

National Science Foundation


Publications | Abstracts

  • Black, B.L, Cardon, G., Yost, M., Torres-Rua, A., (2025). Enhancing uniformity in tart cherry orchards through precision management and variable rate fertilization. *
  • Yost, M., Barker, B., Torres-Rua, A., (2025). Estimating evapotranspiration of various agricultural water optimization practices using soil moisture sensors. *
  • Singh, T., Yost, M., Torres-Rua, A., Barker, B., (2025). Estimating evapotranspiration of various agricultural water optimization practices using soil moisture sensors. *
  • Hashemi, M., Singh, T., Yost, M., Torres-Rua, A., Barker, B., (2025). Evaluating Openet Products to Assess Agriculture Water Optimization Practices in the Colorado River and Great Salt Lake Basins. *
  • Hashemi, M., Yost, M., Torres-Rua, A., Barker, B., (2025). Evaluating water optimization strategies for agriculture in the Colorado River and the Great Basin Watersheds. *
  • Singh, T., Hashemi, M., Yost, M., Torres-Rua, A., Barker, B., (2025). Using soil moisture sensors to evaluate water use and efficiency of water optimization options for the intermountain west. *
  • Yost, M., Torres-Rua, A., (2023). Closed loop alfalfa monitoring to improve irrigation efficiency. American Water Resources Association Annual Meeting *
  • Capcha, K.M, Torres-Rua, A., Hipps, L.E, Kopp, K., Straw, C., Duran, M., Osorio, K., Alvarez, S., Gowing, I., Coopman, C., (2023). Spatial estimation of actual evapotranspiration and turfgrass quality on golf courses using remote sensing information. ASA/CSSA/SSSA
  • Stewart, S., Hipps, L.E, Torres-Rua, A., (2023). Multi-Approach Evaprotranspiration Estimates for Irrigation Plot Research. American Society of Civil Engineers World Environmental and Water Resources Congress *
  • Meza-Capcha, K., Torres-Rua, A., Gao, R., Hargreaves, O., Osorio, K., Hipps, L., Kopp, K., Christiansen, L., Gowing, I., Coopmans, C., (2022). Estimation of leaf area index in urban turfgrass using high resolution multispectral imagery for the two-source energy balance model. American Geophysical Union

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Curriculum

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Journal Articles

Academic Journal

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | MultiMedia

Software

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Technical Reports

Research Reports

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Other

Magazine/Trade Publications

Other

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Teaching

CEE 5006, 6006 - Agricultural Water Management, Spring 2024
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2024
CEE 5006, 6006 - Agricultural Water Management, Spring 2023
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2023
CEE 5190, 6190 - Geographic Information Systems for Civil Engineers, Spring 2022
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2022
CEE 5190, 6190 - Geographic Information Systems for Civil Engineers, Spring 2021
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2021
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2020
CEE 6930, 5930 - Independent Study, Fall 2019
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2019
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2018
CEE, PSC 5003, 6003 - Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Spring 2017

Graduate Students Mentored

Moises Duran, Civil & Environmental Engr, August 2024 - July 2028
Sergio Alvarez, Civil & Environmental Engr, May 2023 - April 2027
Katherine Osorio, Civil & Environmental Engr, January 2022 - August 2026
Anderson Safre, Civil & Environmental Engr, May 2022 - July 2025
Karem Meza-Capcha, Civil & Environmental Engr, January 2021 - December 2024
Moises Duran, Civil & Environmental Engr, June 2022 - June 2024
Rui Gao, Civil & Environmental Engr, January 2020 - August 2023
Laura Christiansen, Civil & Environmental Engr, June 2021 - December 2022
Oliver Hargreaves, Civil & Environmental Engr, January 2021 - December 2022
Ayman Nassar, Civil & Environmental Engr, August 2017 - August 2021
Mahyar Aboutalebi, Civil & Environmental Engr, July 2016 - August 2020

News Releases

Closing the Gap

AggieAir is part of several new projects funded by the Almond Board of California and the California Department of Food and Agriculture to use a variety of tools including drones, hyperspectral imagery, eddy covariance systems, and, of course, field-based...


Affliations

Irrigation system

Irrigation Engineering