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Field · Physical Sciences

Earth and Planetary Sciences research

Earth and Planetary Sciences is a field of the Physical Sciences. Science Explorer counts 2.1M research works in it since 1950. 21.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth and other planets.

Research works
2.1M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
448k
per year above
Top-10% rate
21.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
57
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+22%
the tick is no change

What is Earth and Planetary Sciences research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Climate Change, Remote Sensing, Plate Tectonics, Tectonics, Sea Level Rise, Geodetic Measurements. Gaining share since 2009–13: Photogrammetry, Cultural Heritage, Arctic, Hydrological Modeling, Hydrology. Losing share: Biogeography, Glacial Cycles, Monsoon Dynamics, Marine Sediments.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change101k◆ 1.06×11 topics
  2. Remote Sensing57k▼ 0.86×6 topics
  3. Plate Tectonics48k◆ 1.01×3 topics
  4. Tectonics37k◆ 1.06×3 topics
  5. Sea Level Rise34k▲ 1.23×3 topics
  6. Geodetic Measurements31k▲ 1.16×2 topics
  7. Holocene30k◆ 0.96×2 topics
  8. Sea Level30k◆ 0.96×2 topics
  9. Tomography29k◆ 1.09×2 topics
  10. Cultural Heritage27k▲ 1.77×3 topics
  11. Global Warming26k◆ 0.98×4 topics
  12. Paleoclimatology25k▼ 0.86×2 topics
  13. Arctic25k▲ 1.35×3 topics
  14. Data Assimilation24k◆ 1.00×2 topics
  15. Subduction23k◆ 1.02×3 topics
  16. Hydrology22k▲ 1.27×2 topics
  17. Geochronology21k◆ 1.07×1 topic
  18. Zircon21k◆ 1.07×1 topic
  19. Glacial Cycles21k▼ 0.82×1 topic
  20. Monsoon Dynamics21k▼ 0.82×1 topic
  21. Continental Margin19k▲ 1.23×2 topics
  22. Crustal Structure19k▲ 1.23×2 topics
  23. Earthquakes18k◆ 1.05×1 topic
  24. Plate Boundaries18k◆ 1.05×1 topic
  25. Hydrological Modeling18k▲ 1.34×2 topics
  26. Sedimentation17k◆ 1.09×2 topics
  27. Sediment Transport17k◆ 1.14×3 topics
  28. Ocean Circulation17k◆ 1.06×2 topics
  29. Biogeography16k▼ 0.81×3 topics
  30. Atmospheric Aerosols16k◆ 1.05×1 topic
  31. Black Carbon16k◆ 1.05×1 topic
  32. Benthic Communities16k▼ 0.86×2 topics
  33. Marine Biodiversity16k▼ 0.86×2 topics
  34. Climate Change Impacts16k◆ 1.01×2 topics
  35. Crystal Structure Prediction15k◆ 0.88×1 topic
  36. Mantle Dynamics15k◆ 0.88×1 topic
  37. Tropical Cyclones15k◆ 1.04×2 topics
  38. Marine Sediments15k▼ 0.82×2 topics
  39. Wave Modeling15k◆ 1.05×2 topics
  40. Photogrammetry15k▲ 1.95×1 topic

Which countries lead Earth and Planetary Sciences research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Earth and Planetary Sciences. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (83k and 56k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 22.6% top 10% · 83k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 16.7% top 10% · 56k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #3 all time 25.2% top 10% · 12k works
  4. 4 Germany · #4 all time 24.4% top 10% · 11k works
  5. 5 France · #5 all time 21.3% top 10% · 13k works
  6. 6 India · #13 all time 15.3% top 10% · 14k works
  7. 7 Italy · #8 all time 25.3% top 10% · 10k works
  8. 8 Australia · #7 all time 26.3% top 10% · 6.3k works
  9. 9 Canada · #6 all time 20.4% top 10% · 7.1k works
  10. 10 Switzerland · #9 all time 30.1% top 10% · 2.7k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 80 countries ranked in Earth and Planetary Sciences. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Earth and Planetary Sciences

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 83k works
  2. 2 United States 56k works
  3. 3 Russia 19k works
  4. 4 India 14k works
  5. 5 France 13k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 12k works
  7. 7 Germany 11k works
  8. 8 Italy 10k works
  9. 9 Japan 8.7k works
  10. 10 Indonesia 7.4k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 35.4%United States: 24.1%Russia: 8.2%India: 5.9%6 others listed: 26.5%35%largest
China83k · 35.4%United States56k · 24.1%Russia19k · 8.2%India14k · 5.9%6 others listed62k · 26.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Earth and Planetary Sciences research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Earth and Planetary Sciences on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #3 all time 27.0% top 10% · 3.9k works
  2. 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #44 all time 28.0% top 10% · 2.1k works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #4 all time 27.1% top 10% · 1.8k works
  4. 4 China University of Geosciences China · Wuhan · #85 all time 28.5% top 10% · 1.5k works
  5. 5 Wuhan University China · Wuhan · #37 all time 33.3% top 10% · 850 works
  6. 6 Peking University China · Beijing · #66 all time 28.3% top 10% · 869 works
  7. 7 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology China · Nanjing · #87 all time 18.7% top 10% · 1.2k works
  8. 8 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #60 all time 30.4% top 10% · 636 works
  9. 9 ETH Zurich Switzerland · Zurich · #11 all time 35.9% top 10% · 690 works
  10. 10 Nanjing University China · Nanjing · #96 all time 27.6% top 10% · 835 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 1,209 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Top 100 Earth and Planetary Sciences institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 3.9k works
  2. 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 2.1k works
  3. 3 University of California, Berkeley United States 2k works
  4. 4 Purdue University West Lafayette United States 1.9k works
  5. 5 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 1.8k works
  6. 6 China University of Geosciences China 1.5k works
  7. 7 China University of Geosciences (Beijing) China 1.4k works
  8. 8 Ocean University of China China 1.3k works
  9. 9 Ministry of Natural Resources China 1.2k works
  10. 10 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology China 1.2k works

Who are the leading researchers in Earth and Planetary Sciences?

Among the most productive authors in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Susan Solomon, Eugenia Kalnay and Paul J. Crutzen rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Susan Solomon United States · #561 worldwide 4.5k citations · 103 works
  2. 2 Eugenia Kalnay United States · #936 worldwide 5k citations · 95 works
  3. 3 Paul J. Crutzen Germany · #943 worldwide 2.7k citations · 120 works
  4. 4 Jean‐François Lamarque United States · #1,188 worldwide 2.6k citations · 134 works
  5. 5 J. van der Plicht Netherlands · #1,632 worldwide 1.8k citations · 110 works
  6. 6 Brian F. Windley United Kingdom · #1,662 worldwide 3.9k citations · 89 works
  7. 7 P. D. Jones United Kingdom · #1,948 worldwide 3.4k citations · 191 works
  8. 8 Christopher Bronk Ramsey United Kingdom · #2,257 worldwide 2.4k citations · 79 works
  9. 9 Dan McKenzie United Kingdom · #2,432 worldwide 1.7k citations · 138 works
  10. 10 Soroosh Sorooshian United States · #2,630 worldwide 2.7k citations · 151 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,914 highest-output authors in Earth and Planetary Sciences. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Earth and Planetary Sciences researchers

Where is Earth and Planetary Sciences research done?

The largest centres of Earth and Planetary Sciences research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Nanjing (China) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Vasco, Ramonville-Saint-Agne and College Park.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 25k works
  2. 2 Moscow Russia 7.8k works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 5k works
  4. 4 Paris France 4.5k works
  5. 5 Qingdao China 4.2k works
  6. 6 Wuhan China 4.1k works
  7. 7 Shanghai China 3.7k works
  8. 8 Guangzhou China 3.3k works
  9. 9 Xi'an China 3k works
  10. 10 Chengdu China 2.7k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VascoIN · 25.0 works32×
  2. Ramonville-Saint-AgneFR · 63.7 works31×
  3. College Park23.3 works31×
  4. BrentwoodUS · 42.2 works31×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Earth and Planetary Sciences than the world average.

See Earth and Planetary Sciences on the map

Earth and Planetary Sciences research by country

The best places for Earth and Planetary Sciences research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Earth and Planetary Sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, China University of Geosciences, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Aerospace Information Research Institute score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 24.56%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →China University of Geosciences: 1,527, 28.5%China University of Geosciences (Beijing): 1,388, 20.3%Aerospace Information Research Institute: 266, 28.2%Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology: 1,152, 18.7%University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: 2,054, 28.0%East China University of Technology: 239, 17.1%ETH Zurich: 690, 35.9%Ocean University of China: 1,271, 18.9%University of Alaska Fairbanks: 279, 21.4%King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: 321, 28.6%China University of …Aerospace Informatio…China University of …Nanjing University o…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1China University of Geosciences China 65.128.5%10.3×1,527 -2.5%
2China University of Geosciences (Beijing) China 57.720.3%14.7×1,388 -5.2%
3Aerospace Information Research Institute China 57.528.2%7.0×266 +834.6%
4Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology China 56.918.7%8.8×1,152 +65.8%
5University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 51.528.0%3.9×2,054 +19.5%
6East China University of Technology China 51.317.1%8.2×239 +203.6%
7ETH Zurich Switzerland 51.235.9%3.2×690 +6.8%
8Ocean University of China China 51.018.9%7.8×1,271 +8.0%
9University of Alaska Fairbanks United States 49.921.4%15.8×279 -7.9%
10King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Saudi Arabia 49.328.6%3.6×321 +117.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Earth and Planetary Sciences research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 22% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2021. The fastest-growing topics are 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage, Cryospheric studies and observations and Archaeology and ancient environmental studies.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage+214%
  2. Cryospheric studies and observations+107%
  3. Archaeology and ancient environmental studies+103%
  4. Seismic Imaging and Inversion Techniques+92%
  5. Seismic Waves and Analysis+92%
  6. Earthquake Detection and Analysis+68%
  7. nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions-5%
  8. Remote Sensing and Land Use-50%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Earth and Planetary Sciences include?

Geology and Paleoclimato…121kGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 121k fractional worksGeological and Geochemic…108kGeological and Geochemical Analysis: 108k fractional worksHigh-pressure geophysics and materials: 93k fractional worksearthquake and tectonic studies: 87k fractional worksAtmospheric chemistry and aerosols: 76k fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 68k fractional worksRemote Sensing and Land Use: 65k fractional worksAtmospheric Ozone and Climate: 64k fractional worksMarine and coastal ecosystems: 63k fractional worksMarine Biology and Ecology Research: 55k fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity Measurements: 54k fractional worksSeismic Waves and Analysis: 53k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.