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Department of Geosciences

Earth, Air, & Water

Vitaly Zlotnik

Professor

Ph.D., 1979, Moscow Russia

Hydrogeology, Groundwater-surface water interactions, Aquifer hydraulics and hydrogeophysics, Hydrogeologic modeling, Hydrology

Contact Information

318 Bessey Hall
402-472-2495
vzlotnik1unl.edu

My research spans a broad range of scales - from a few centimeters to hundreds of kilometers: groundwater-surface water interactions, heterogeneity in sedimentary systems, modeling groundwater flow and mass transport, and groundwater remediation. Geography and scope of research projects in Europe, Central Asia, and the U.S. include effects of groundwater withdrawals on small streams in Belarus; heterogeneity properties of a shallow aquifer in Neckar Valley, Germany; salt accumulation in vadose zone under irrigated lands in Uzbekistan; morphological features of the sand bars and stream depletion by groundwater pumping in the Platte River watershed, and variability of lake salinity in Nebraska.

Recent funded projects with colleagues from the U.S. and abroad address:

1. Salinity of lakes in the Sand Hills, Nebraska (NSF). Fascinating and puzzling spatial and temporal patterns of varying lake salinity utilize broad range of methods: direct-push techniques for aquifer characterization, resistivity and electromagnetic methods of geophysics, groundwater modeling, water chemistry and isotopes, Landsat imagery, and GIS.

2. Biocomplexity of the Sand Hills (NSF). As a part of a multi-disciplinary team of geologists, ecologists, hydrologists, and meteorologists, I explore properties of groundwater recharge under current and future climate change scenarios using vadose zone modeling.

3. Remediation of explosives and solvents at the Superfund site (Mead, Nebraska) using permanganate injection (EPA). This study utilizes our single-borehole techniques for aquifer characterization.

4. Plume conceptualization and monitoring combining hydraulic testing and electrical resistivity methods after permanganate injection (DoD)

I teach groundwater modeling, mass transport in groundwater, and field methods in hydrogeology within Hydrogeology Specialization framework. My students have successful employment records in academia, federal and state agencies, the environmental and oil industry, in the U.S. and abroad. More information can be found on the personal web site.

Selected Publications

  • Wang, T., V.A. Zlotnik, J. Šimunek, M. Schaap, 2009, Using process-based models and pedotransfer functions for soil hydraulic characteristics to estimate groundwater recharge in semi-arid regions, Water Resources Research, 45, doi:doi:10.1029/2008WR006903.
  • Zlotnik, V.A., F. Olaguera, J.B. Ong, 2009, An approach to assessment of flow regimes of groundwater-dominated lakes in arid environments, J. Hydrology, 371, 22-30, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.03.012.
  • Zlotnik, V.A. and D.M. Tartakovsky, 2008, Stream depletion by groundwater pumping from leaky aquifers, J. Hydrol. Eng., 13, 43-52.
  • Zlotnik, V.A., M. Burbach, J. Swinehart, D. Bennett, S. Fritz, D. Loope, 2007, A case study of direct push methods for aquifer characterization in dune-lake environments, Environmental and Engineering Geoscience, v. XIII, no 3, 205-216.
  • Zlotnik, V.A., T. Wang, J. Nieber, J. Šimunek, 2007, Verification of Numerical Solutions of the Richards Equation Using a Traveling Wave Solution, Advances in Water Resour., 30, 1973-1980.
  • Kollet, S.J., and V.A. Zlotnik, 2005, Influence of aquifer heterogeneity and return flow on pumping test data interpretation, J. Hydrology, 300, 267-285.
  • Zlotnik, V.A., 2004, A concept of maximum stream depletion rate for leaky aquifers in alluvial valleys, Water Resources Research, 40(6), W06507, doi:10.1029/2003 WR002932.
  • Cardenas, M.B.R., J. Wilson, and V.A. Zlotnik, 2004, Impact of heterogeneity, bed forms, and stream curvature on subchannel hyporheic exchange, Water Resources Research, 40(8), W08307, doi:10.1029/2003/2004WR003008.