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Research facility · Mountain View · United States

Ames Research Center

In research, Ames Research Center stands highest in Physical Sciences (#1,355 of 12,888 worldwide), Engineering (#1,543 of 6,636 worldwide) and Computer Science (#1,406 of 4,667 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Aerospace Engineering and Computational Mechanics — Astronomy and Astrophysics is 27.8× its share of world research.

nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/index.htmlROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,312
of 28,054 · #246 all time
Rank in United States
#351
of 4,192
Research works
29k
▼ 35% vs 2013–17
Citations
760k
26.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
22.3%
record average 16.5%
Open access
26%
world 28%

What is Ames Research Center known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #1,355 of 12,888 23.2%948 #165
EngineeringField #1,543 of 6,636 22.3%430 #74
Computer ScienceField #1,406 of 4,667 24.0%107 #135
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #137 of 443 24.1%160 #18
Aerospace EngineeringSubfield #268 of 795 27.5%201 #12
Physics and AstronomyField #685 of 1,646 25.2%202 #233
Environmental ScienceField #2,086 of 3,551 23.2%75 #280
Computational MechanicsSubfield #301 of 376 19.2%68 #6
Social SciencesDomain #9,181 of 10,521 15.0%78 #839

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Ames Research Center sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#165 #1,355
  2. Engineering#74 #1,543
  3. Computer Science#135 #1,406
  4. Astronomy and Astrophysics#18 #137
  5. Aerospace Engineering#12 #268
  6. Physics and Astronomy#233 #685
  7. Environmental Science#280 #2,086
  8. Computational Mechanics#6 #301
  9. Social Sciences#839 #9,181
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Ames Research Center specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 27.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 159.9 works28×
  2. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 200.9 works16×
  3. Computational MechanicsSubfield · 68.0 works11×
  4. Applied MathematicsSubfield · 27.9 works8.8×
  5. Physics and AstronomyField · 201.7 works8.2×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.10× its world share, 5 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.35× its world share, 21 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.42× its world share, 8 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.48× its world share, 6 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.89× its world share, 16 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.24× its world share, 107 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.96× its world share, 52 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.20× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 2.59× its world share, 430 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.36× its world share, 75 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.75× its world share, 29 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 2.38× its world share, 31 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 8.19× its world share, 202 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.44× its world share, 13 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.16× its world share, 34 worksMedicineNursing: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.08× its world share, 3 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.10× its world share, 22 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.39× its world share, 9 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.90× its world share, 30 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.08× its world share, 12 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 8.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Ames Research Center?

Ranked on the composite score, Andrew B. Watson, D. J. Hollenbach and James B. Pollack lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Ames Research Center.

  1. 1 Andrew B. Watson United States · #9,066 worldwide 1.1k citations · 52 works
  2. 2 D. J. Hollenbach United States · #11,309 worldwide 1.3k citations · 101 works
  3. 3 James B. Pollack United States · #13,048 worldwide 874 citations · 81 works
  4. 4 Hirofumi Hashimoto United States · #13,221 worldwide 496 citations · 71 works
  5. 5 Ramakrishna Nemani United States · #13,864 worldwide 1.2k citations · 74 works
  6. 6 Vadim Smelyanskiy United States · #16,207 worldwide 822 citations · 61 works
  7. 7 Jason F. Rowe United States · #16,554 worldwide 827 citations · 95 works
  8. 8 Kevin Zahnle United States · #18,215 worldwide 550 citations · 80 works
  9. 9 Steve Bryson United States · #18,569 worldwide 641 citations · 62 works
  10. 10 David Koch United States · #19,215 worldwide 710 citations · 87 works
All ranked researchers at Ames Research Center

Which keywords describe research at Ames Research Center?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Risk Assessment, Collision Avoidance, Air Traffic Management, Conflict Resolution, Large-Eddy Simulation, Mars, Martian Surface and Adaptive Mesh Refinement.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Risk Assessment69▲ 9.2×7 topics
  2. Collision Avoidance56▲ 28×4 topics
  3. Climate Change48▲ 1.62×49 topics
  4. Air Traffic Management45▲ 217×1 topic
  5. Conflict Resolution45▲ 108×1 topic
  6. Large-Eddy Simulation41▲ 19×5 topics
  7. Mars40▲ 112×1 topic
  8. Martian Surface40▲ 112×1 topic
  9. Adaptive Mesh Refinement38▲ 55×2 topics
  10. High-Order Schemes38▲ 55×2 topics
  11. Shock-Wave Interactions37▲ 86×1 topic
  12. Turbulence Modeling37▲ 86×1 topic
  13. Solar System Abundances36▲ 68×1 topic
  14. Terrestrial Planets36▲ 68×1 topic
  15. Autonomous Vehicles34▲ 14×4 topics
  16. Kinetic Theory29▲ 59×2 topics
  17. Numerical Methods28▲ 30×3 topics
  18. Boltzmann Equation28▲ 121×1 topic
  19. Rarefied Flows28▲ 121×1 topic
  20. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles28▲ 13×4 topics
  21. Flight Control27▲ 87×2 topics
  22. Heat Transfer27▲ 5.0×12 topics
  23. Air Quality27▲ 13×5 topics
  24. Parameter Estimation26▲ 19×5 topics
  25. Dynamic Soaring24▲ 152×1 topic
  26. Wind Estimation24▲ 152×1 topic
  27. Driver Behavior24▲ 27×2 topics
  28. Cognitive Load22▲ 46×2 topics
  29. Star Formation22▲ 38×2 topics
  30. Exoplanets22▲ 50×1 topic
  31. Stellar Astrophysics22▲ 50×1 topic
  32. Turbulence22▲ 23×4 topics
  33. Automation22▲ 30×2 topics
  34. Trust22▲ 7.2×2 topics
  35. Human Factors22▲ 26×3 topics
  36. Driver Distraction22▲ 52×1 topic
  37. Mental Workload22▲ 38×2 topics
  38. Situation Awareness22▲ 52×1 topic
  39. Vortex Dynamics22▲ 17×3 topics
  40. Magnetic Fields21▲ 29×3 topics

Which research topics does Ames Research Center publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Air Traffic Management and Optimization, Planetary Science and Exploration, Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics and Astro and Planetary Science.

Air Traffic Management a…45Air Traffic Management and Optimization: 45 fractional worksPlanetary Science and Ex…40Planetary Science and Exploration: 40 fractional worksComputational Fluid Dyna…37Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics: 37 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Scie…36Astro and Planetary Science: 36 fractional worksGas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory: 28 fractional worksAerospace and Aviation Technology: 24 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and …22Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 22 fractional worksHuman-Automation Interaction and Safety: 22 fractional worksFluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows: 20 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 18 fractional works
Aerospace EngineeringAstronomy and AstrophysicsComputational MechanicsApplied Mathematics1 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Air Traffic Management and Optimization Aerospace Engineering 45 works
  2. 2 Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy and Astrophysics 40 works
  3. 3 Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics Computational Mechanics 37 works
  4. 4 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 36 works
  5. 5 Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory Applied Mathematics 28 works
  6. 6 Aerospace and Aviation Technology Aerospace Engineering 24 works
  7. 7 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 22 works
  8. 8 Human-Automation Interaction and Safety Social Psychology 22 works
  9. 9 Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows Computational Mechanics 20 works
  10. 10 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 18 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available25.8%not open74.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors9.2%domestic only90.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Ames Research Center's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 35% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Other research institutions in Mountain View

All research institutions in Mountain View

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.