Zbigniew J. Kabala | Scholars@Duke

Zbigniew J. Kabala
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Born and raised behind the Iron Curtain, Dr. Zbigniew J. Kabala is a naturalized United States citizen who cherishes the freedoms and opportunities granted by this country. He earned his master's degree in civil engineering in 1980 from Poznan Polytechnic in Poznan, Poland, and master's degree in mathematics in 1982 from A. Mickiewicz University in Poznan. At Princeton University, he earned another master's and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering and operations research in 1985 and 1988, respectively. Next, Dr. Kabala held one-year postdoctoral appointments at the MIT in the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory and at the UC-Berkeley in the Department of Soil Science. He was then appointed an assistant professor of hydrology in the Department of Soils and Environmental Sciences at the UC-Riverside. He joined the Duke faculty in the summer of 1994.

Dr. Kabala's principal research interests cover stochastic and deterministic theory of fluid flow and contaminant transport in saturated and unsaturated heterogeneous porous media, theory of related measurements, field and laboratory studies in subsurface hydrology, stochastic fields and processes, numerical and analytical methods and sensitivity analysis. His current research focuses on developing new measurement techniques for characterization of porous media, recovering contaminant release histories from current plume observations, and stochastic modeling of water and solute transport in saturated and unsaturated heterogeneous formations.

Dr. Kabala has served as a faculty in residence (FIR) in Southgate Dorm on the East Campus for a number of years. He enjoys his interactions with students outside of class. He follows politics with great passion and occasionally writes about it on Mic. Dr. Kabala is an avid member of Toastmasters International, where he hones his public speaking skills. In his free time, he enjoys racquet and water sports, hiking, reading, and listening to jazz.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering 2001

Contact Information

Box 90287, Durham, NC 27708-0287
CIEMAS 2467, Durham, NC 27708
zbigniew.kabala@duke.edu (919) 660-5479

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Princeton University 1988
- M.S., Princeton University 1982
- M.S., Poznan Polytechnic (Poland) 1980
Duke Appointment History
- Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering 1994 - 2001
- Associate Professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University 1998 - 2000
Research
Selected Grants
- Proposal for Significant Undergraduate Laboratory Innovation and Improvement of Fluid Mechanics and/or Communications La awarded by Lord Foundation of North Carolina 2007 - 2008
- Flow Cell & Virtual Fluid Mechanics Lab awarded by Lord Foundation of North Carolina 2000 - 2003
- Multiscale Modeling and Simulation in Scientific Inference: Hierarchical Methods for Parameter Estimation in Porous Flow awarded by National Science Foundation 1999 - 2002
- (95-0796) Detailed Aquifer Characterization by the Dipole-flow Test and Flowmeter Test awarded by Lord Foundation of North Carolina 1995 - 1996
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Journal Articles
  - Kahler, DM, and Kabala, ZJ. "Acceleration of groundwater remediation by deep sweeps and vortex ejections induced by rapidly pulsed pumping." Water Resources Research 52, no. 5 (May 2016): 3930-3940. Full Text
  - Krug, CT, and Kabala, Z. "Vadose zone transport of nitrate in the sierra pelona groundwater basin, Agua Dulce, California." Proceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009 - World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers 342 (2009): 1814-1823. Full Text
  - Raanan, H, Vengosh, A, Paytan, A, Nishri, A, and Kabala, Z. "Quantifying saline groundwater flow into a freshwater lake using the Ra isotope quartet: A case study from the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret), Israel." Limnology and Oceanography 54, no. 1 (2009): 119-131.
  - Kabala, ZJ, El-Sayegh, HK, and Gavin, HP. "Sensitivity analysis of a no-crossflow model for the transient flowmeter test." Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment 16, no. 6 (2002): 399-424. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ, and El-Sayegh, HK. "Transient flowmeter test: Simi-analytic crossflow model." Advances in Water Resources 25, no. 1 (2002): 103-121. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ. "Sensitiviby analysis of a pumping test on a well with wellbore storage and skin." Advances in Water Resources 24, no. 5 (2001): 483-504. Full Text
  - Sutton, DJ, Kabala, ZJ, Francisco, A, and Vasudevan, D. "Limitations and potential of commercially available rhodamine WT as a groundwater tracer." Water Resources Research 37, no. 6 (2001): 1641-1656. Full Text
  - Alapati, S, and Kabala, ZJ. "Recovering the release history of a groundwater contaminant using a non-linear least-squares method." Hydrological Processes 14, no. 6 (2000): 1003-1016. (Academic Article) Full Text Link to Item
  - Alapati, S, and Kabala, ZJ. "Recovering the release history of a groundwater contaminant using a non-linear least-squares method." Hydrological Processes 14, no. 6 (2000): 1003-1016. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ, Zlotnik, VA, and Zurbuchen, BR. "Discussion of papers." Ground Water 38, no. 2 (2000): 162-165.
  - Sutton, DJ, Kabala, ZJ, Schaad, DE, and Ruud, NC. "The dipole-flow test with a tracer: A new single-borehole tracer test for aquifer characterization." Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 44, no. 1 (2000): 71-101. Full Text
  - Sutton, DJ, Kabala, ZJ, and Vasudevan, D. "Rhodamine WT as a reactive tracer: Laboratory study and field consequences." IAHS-AISH Publication , no. 262 (2000): 201-205.
  - Cassiani, G, Kabala, ZJ, and Jr, MAM. "Flowing partially penetrating well: Solution to a mixed-type boundary value problem." Advances in Water Resources 23, no. 1 (1999): 59-68. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ. "Maximum inclination path for laminar settling of axisymmetric particles in viscous fluids." Journal of Environmental Engineering 125, no. 1 (1999): 97-101. (Academic Article) Full Text Link to Item
  - Kabala, ZJ. "Maximum inclination path for laminar settling of axisymmetric particles in viscous fluids." Journal of Environmental Engineering 125, no. 1 (1999): 97-101. Full Text
  - Ruud, NC, Kabala, ZJ, and Molz, FJ. "Evaluation of flowmeter-head loss effects in the flowmeter test." Journal of Hydrology 224, no. 1-2 (1999): 55-63. Full Text
  - Cassiani, G, and Kabala, ZJ. "Hydraulics of a partially penetrating well: Solution to a mixed-type boundary value problem via dual integral equations." Journal of Hydrology 211, no. 1-4 (1998): 100-111. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ, Skaggs, TH, Woodbury, AD, and Ulrych, TJ. "Comment on 'Minimum relative entropy inversion: Theory and application to recovering the release history of a groundwater contaminant' by Allan D. Woodbury and Tadeusz J. Ulrych." Water Resources Research 34, no. 8 (1998): 2077-2084.
  - Kabala, ZJ, Sposito, G, Kavvas, ML, and Karakas, A. "Technical comment on: 'On the stochastic theory of solute transport by unsteady and steady groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers', by M.L. Kavvas and A. Karakas (Journal of Hydrology Vol. 179 (1996) 321-351)." Journal of Hydrology 207, no. 1-2 (1998): 136-138. Full Text
  - Skaggs, TH, Kabala, ZJ, and Jury, WA. "Deconvolution of a nonparametric transfer function for solute transport in soils." Journal of Hydrology 207, no. 3-4 (1998): 170-178. Full Text
  - Skaggs, TH, and Kabala, ZJ. "Limitations in recovering the history of a groundwater contaminant plume." Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 33, no. 3-4 (1998): 347-359. Full Text
  - Williams, AE, Johnson, JA, Lund, LJ, and Kabala, ZJ. "Spatial and temporal variations in nitrate contamination of a rural aquifer, California." Journal of Environmental Quality 27, no. 5 (1998): 1147-1157.
  - Williams, AE, Lund, LJ, Johnson, JA, and Kabala, ZJ. "Natural and anthropogenic nitrate contamination of groundwater in a rural community, California." Environmental Science and Technology 32, no. 1 (1998): 32-39. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Cassiani, G. "Well Hydraulics with the Weber-Goldstein Transforms." Transport in Porous Media 29, no. 2 (1997): 225-246.
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Thorne, B. "Hydraulics of one- and two-dimensional flow fields in aquifers." Hydrological Sciences Journal 42, no. 1 (1997): 1-13.
  - Kabala, ZJ. "Analytical solutions for the coefficient of variation of the volume-averaged solute concentration in heterogeneous aquifers." Stochastic Hydrology and Hydraulics 11, no. 4 (1997): 331-348.
  - Katul, G, Todd, P, Pataki, D, Kabala, ZJ, and Oren, R. "Soil water depletion by oak trees and the influence of root water uptake on the moisture content spatial statistics." Water Resources Research 33, no. 4 (1997): 611-623.
  - Ruud, NC, and Kabala, ZJ. "Response of a partially penetrating well in a heterogeneous aquifer: Integrated well-face flux vs. uniform well-face flux boundary conditions." Journal of Hydrology 194, no. 1-4 (1997): 76-94. Full Text
  - Ruud, NC, and Kabala, ZJ. "Numerical evaluation of the flowmeter test in a layered aquifer with a skin zone." Journal of Hydrology 203, no. 1-4 (1997): 101-108. Full Text
  - Xiang, J, and Kabala, ZJ. "Performance of the steady-state dipole flow test in layered aquifers." Hydrological Processes 11, no. 12 (1997): 1595-1605.
  - Ruud, NC, and Kabala, ZJ. "Numerical evaluation of flowmeter test interpretation methodologies." Water Resources Research 32, no. 4 (1996): 845-852. Full Text
  - Skaggs, TH, and Kabala, ZJ. "Recovering the history of a groundwater contaminant plume: method of quasi-reversibility." Water Resources Research 31, no. 11 (1995): 2669-2673. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Sposito, G. "Statistical moments of reactive solute concentration in a heterogeneous aquifer." Water Resources Research 30, no. 3 (1994): 759-768. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ. "Measuring distributions of hydraulic conductivity and specific storativity by the double flowmeter test." Water Resources Research 30, no. 3 (1994): 685-690. Full Text
  - Skaggs, TH, and Kabala, ZJ. "Recovering the release history of a groundwater contaminant." Water Resources Research 30, no. 1 (1994): 71-79.
  - Hinedi, ZR, Kabala, ZJ, Skaggs, TH, Borchardt, DB, Lee, RWK, and Chang, AC. "Probing soil and aquifer material porosity with nuclear magnetic resonance." Water Resources Research 29, no. 12 (1993): 3861-3866. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Hunt, A. "A master equation for reactive solute transport in porous media." Stochastic Hydrology and Hydraulics 7, no. 4 (1993): 255-268. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ. "The dipole flow test: a new single-borehole test for aquifer characterization." Water Resources Research 29, no. 1 (1993): 99-107. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ. "Well response in a leaky aquifer and computational interpretation of pumping tests." Proceedings - National Conference on Hydraulic Engineering , no. pt 1 (1993): 21-28.
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Xiang, J. "Skin effect and its elimination for single-borehole aquifer tests." Finite Elements in Water Resources, Proceedings of the International Conference 1 (1992): 467-474.
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Milly, PCD. "Sensitivity analysis of infiltration, exfiltration, and drainage in unsaturated Miller-similar porous media." Water Resources Research 27, no. 10 (1991): 2655-2666. Full Text
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Sposito, G. "A stochastic model of reactive solute transport with time-varying velocity in a heterogeneous aquifer." Water Resources Research 27, no. 3 (1991): 341-350. Full Text
  - Sposito, G, Barry, DA, and Kabala, ZJ. "Stochastic differential equations in the theory of solute transport through inhomogeneous porous media." Advances in porous media. Vol. 1 (1991): 295-309.
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Milly, PCD. "Sensitivity analysis of flow in unsaturated heterogeneous porous media: theory, numerical model, and its verification." Water Resources Research 26, no. 4 (1990): 593-610. Full Text
  - Milly, PCD, and Kabala, ZJ. "Integrated modeling and remote sensing of soil moisture." Hydrologic applications of space technology. Proc. workshop, Cocoa Beach, FL, 1985 (1986): 331-339.
  - Kabala, ZK, Pinder, GF, and Milly, PCD. "Analysis of well-aquifer response to a slug test." Water Resources Research 21, no. 9 (1985): 1433-1436.
  - Kabala, ZJ. "Comment on: An exposition of the distribution function used in proving the averaging theorems for multiphase flow." Advances in Water Resources 7, no. 3 (1984): 144-145.
  - Kabala, ZJ, and Milly, PCD. "Sensitivity analysis of partial differential equations: A case for functional sensitivity (Accepted)." Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations 7, no. 2: 101-112. Full Text
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

Recent Courses