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Government institution · Cambridge · United Kingdom

British Antarctic Survey

In research, British Antarctic Survey stands highest in Earth and Planetary Sciences (#87 of 1,088 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#948 of 10,670 worldwide) and Atmospheric Science (#27 of 294 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Atmospheric Science, Oceanography and Earth and Planetary Sciences (Atmospheric Science is 65.4× its share of world research).

bas.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#2,127
of 22,385 · #1,347 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#124
of 862
Research works
4.4k
▼ 17% vs 2018-21
Citations
196k
44.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
13.1%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.18×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
48%
world 40%
International
36%
world 18%
British Antarctic Survey

What is British Antarctic Survey known for in research?

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

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #87 of 1,088 13.9%157 #112
Physical SciencesDomain #948 of 10,670 13.9%326 #931
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #27 of 294 15.7%99 #56
Environmental ScienceField #431 of 3,334 15.0%121 #279

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where British Antarctic Survey 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 average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which of those standings moved

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

  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences#112 #87
  2. Physical Sciences#931 #948
  3. Atmospheric Science#56 #27
  4. Environmental Science#279 #431
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

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

Which fields of science does British Antarctic Survey work in?

In 2022-now, 88% of research at British Antarctic Survey is in Physical Sciences, 7% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Earth and Planetary Sciences (45%), Environmental Science (30%), Physics and Astronomy (7%). It does 2.2× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 429 fractional works · 87.7% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 218 fractional works · 44.6% of its workAtmospheric Science: 141 fractional works · 28.9% of its workOceanography: 49 fractional works · 10.1% of its workGeophysics: 14 fractional works · 2.9% of its workPaleontology: 8 fractional works · 1.6% of its workGeology: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnvironmental Science: 147 fractional works · 30.1% of its workEcology: 68 fractional works · 13.9% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 42 fractional works · 8.5% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 8 fractional works · 1.7% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 7 fractional works · 1.4% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 6 fractional works · 1.3% of its workPollution: 6 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEcological Modeling: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 36 fractional works · 7.3% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 32 fractional works · 6.5% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEngineering: 17 fractional works · 3.4% of its workAerospace Engineering: 6 fractional works · 1.3% of its workOcean Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputer Science: 6 fractional works · 1.2% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMaterials Science: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBiomaterials: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnergy: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workLife Sciences: 33 fractional works · 6.8% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 16 fractional works · 3.3% of its workMolecular Biology: 10 fractional works · 2.0% of its workGenetics: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBiophysics: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCell Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 15 fractional works · 3.2% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 8 fractional works · 1.7% of its workPlant Science: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAquatic Science: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workInsect Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 16 fractional works · 3.3% of its workMedicine: 13 fractional works · 2.7% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 8 fractional works · 1.6% of its workPhysiology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workHealth Professions: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workVeterinary: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 11 fractional works · 2.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 8 fractional works · 1.6% of its workSociology and Political Science: 6 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPsychology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workArts and Humanities: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKBritish AntarcticSurvey490fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences7%Physical Sciences88%Health Sciences3%Social Sciences2%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 24 fields, with their numbers
    1. Earth and Planetary Sciences21844.6%
    2. Environmental Science14730.1%
    3. Physics and Astronomy367.3%
    4. Engineering173.4%
    5. Computer Science61.2%
    6. Materials Science20.4%
    7. Energy20.3%
    8. Mathematics10.2%
    9. Chemistry10.2%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology163.3%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences153.2%
    3. Immunology and Microbiology10.2%
    4. Neuroscience00.1%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
    1. Medicine132.7%
    2. Health Professions20.4%
    3. Veterinary10.1%
    4. Dentistry00.1%
    5. Nursing00.0%
    1. Social Sciences81.6%
    2. Decision Sciences10.2%
    3. Psychology10.2%
    4. Arts and Humanities10.1%
    5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance10.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does British Antarctic Survey specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Atmospheric Science takes 65.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 141.5 works65×
  2. OceanographySubfield · 49.5 works36×
  3. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 218.3 works28×
  4. EcologySubfield · 68.3 works18×
  5. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 32.0 works13×
  6. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 41.6 works11×
← 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: 0.66× its world share, 15 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.62× its world share, 16 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.23× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.13× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.16× its world share, 6 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 28.42× its world share, 218 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.35× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.23× its world share, 16 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 6.06× its world share, 147 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.12× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.19× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.27× its world share, 36 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.16× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.14× its world share, 13 worksMedicineNursing: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.88× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesDecision Sciences: 0.23× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.13× its world share, 8 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 28.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 24 fields, with their numbers
  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences28.42×218 works
  2. Environmental Science6.06×147 works
  3. Physics and Astronomy3.27×36 works
  4. Veterinary0.88×1 works
  5. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.66×15 works
  6. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.62×16 works
  7. Energy0.35×2 works
  8. Immunology and Microbiology0.23×1 works
  9. Engineering0.23×16 works
  10. Decision Sciences0.23×1 works
  11. Mathematics0.19×1 works
  12. Computer Science0.16×6 works
  13. Health Professions0.16×2 works
  14. Dentistry0.14×0 works
  15. Medicine0.14×13 works
  16. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.13×0 works
  17. Social Sciences0.13×8 works
  18. Chemistry0.12×1 works
  19. Materials Science0.12×2 works
  20. Neuroscience0.05×0 works
  21. Nursing0.05×0 works
  22. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.05×0 works
  23. Psychology0.05×1 works
  24. Arts and Humanities0.04×1 works

Who are the top researchers at British Antarctic Survey?

Ranked on the quality score, Adrian Jenkins, Pierre Dutrieux and David G. Vaughan lead among researchers whose main affiliation is British Antarctic Survey.

  1. 1 Adrian Jenkins United Kingdom · #33,176 worldwide 20k citations · 305 works
  2. 2 Pierre Dutrieux United Kingdom · #50,649 worldwide 7.8k citations · 173 works
  3. 3 David G. Vaughan United Kingdom · #52,069 worldwide 25k citations · 297 works
  4. 4 Andrew Clarke United Kingdom · #55,023 worldwide 21k citations · 278 works
  5. 5 Angus Atkinson United Kingdom · #58,990 worldwide 14k citations · 240 works
  6. 6 Gareth J. Marshall United Kingdom · #68,893 worldwide 22k citations · 198 works
  7. 7 Nigel P. Meredith United Kingdom · #79,075 worldwide 15k citations · 242 works
  8. 8 Thomas J. Bracegirdle United Kingdom · #84,208 worldwide 10k citations · 198 works
  9. 9 John P. Croxall United Kingdom · #93,330 worldwide 20k citations · 235 works
  10. 10 Richard Bertram Horne United Kingdom · #100,293 worldwide 37k citations · 681 works
All ranked researchers at British Antarctic Survey

What are the most cited papers from British Antarctic Survey?

The most cited paper from British Antarctic Survey is "Ecological responses to recent climate change" (Gian-Reto Walther, Eric Post, Peter Convey et al., 2002), with 10,060 citations. Next come "Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments" (6,184) and "The Twentieth Century Reanalysis Project" (3,728).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Ecological responses to recent climate change Gian-Reto Walther, Eric Post, Peter Convey et al. · Nature Open access Mar 2002 10,060
2 Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments David K. A. Barnes, François Galgani, Richard C. Thompson et al. · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences Open access 15 Jun 2009 6,184
3 The Twentieth Century Reanalysis Project Gilbert P. Compo et al. · Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society Open access 2011 3,728
4 Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction J. C. Farman, BRIAN G. GARDINER, J. D. Shanklin · Nature May 1985 3,651
5 Orbital and Millennial Antarctic Climate Variability over the Past 800,000 Years Jean-Noël Jouzel et al. · Science Open access 5 Jul 2007 2,743
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at British Antarctic Survey?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Remote Sensing, Ocean Circulation, Hydrology, Sea Level Rise, Arctic, Glacier and Water Availability.

▲ 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-now 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. Climate Change230▲ 17×58 topics
  2. Remote Sensing93▲ 16×18 topics
  3. Ocean Circulation62▲ 92×3 topics
  4. Hydrology55▲ 87×4 topics
  5. Sea Level Rise50▲ 81×3 topics
  6. Arctic49▲ 91×4 topics
  7. Glacier46▲ 213×1 topic
  8. Water Availability46▲ 213×1 topic
  9. Decline37▲ 280×1 topic
  10. Sea Ice37▲ 280×1 topic
  11. Biogeography35▲ 25×12 topics
  12. Holocene32▲ 60×3 topics
  13. Sea Level32▲ 71×2 topics
  14. Paleoclimatology32▲ 79×2 topics
  15. Glacial Cycles31▲ 98×1 topic
  16. Monsoon Dynamics31▲ 98×1 topic
  17. Permafrost29▲ 132×2 topics
  18. Global Warming28▲ 14×9 topics
  19. Biodiversity27▲ 7.2×20 topics
  20. Solar Wind24▲ 54×2 topics
  21. Ecology23▲ 28×8 topics
  22. Antarctic20▲ 390×1 topic
  23. Microorganisms20▲ 304×1 topic
  24. Benthic Communities18▲ 59×2 topics
  25. Marine Biodiversity18▲ 59×2 topics
  26. Data Assimilation17▲ 21×3 topics
  27. Hydrological Cycle17▲ 33×2 topics
  28. Population Dynamics17▲ 13×8 topics
  29. Ocean Acidification16▲ 45×3 topics
  30. Ionosphere16▲ 60×1 topic
  31. Magnetosphere16▲ 60×1 topic
  32. Extreme Events16▲ 34×2 topics
  33. Greenhouse Gas Emissions16▲ 11×5 topics
  34. Ecosystem Functioning15▲ 15×7 topics
  35. Climate Modeling15▲ 40×1 topic
  36. Conservation15▲ 6.9×14 topics
  37. Precipitation Extremes15▲ 40×1 topic
  38. Fisheries Sustainability13▲ 32×2 topics
  39. Predator-Prey Interactions12▲ 30×3 topics
  40. Marine Environment11▲ 16×3 topics

Which research topics does British Antarctic Survey publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Cryospheric studies and observations, Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics, Geology and Paleoclimatology Research and Polar Research and Ecology.

Cryospheric studies and …46Cryospheric studies and observations: 46 fractional worksArctic and Antarctic ice dynamics: 37 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 31 fractional worksPolar Research and Ecology: 20 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 16 fractional worksClimate variability and …15Climate variability and models: 15 fractional worksMarine Biology and Ecology Research: 11 fractional worksOceanographic and Atmospheric Processes: 10 fractional worksMarine animal studies overview: 10 fractional worksMarine and coastal ecosystems: 10 fractional works
Atmospheric ScienceEcologyAstronomy and AstrophysicsGlobal and Planetary Change1 others

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

  1. 1 Cryospheric studies and observations Atmospheric Science 46 works
  2. 2 Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics Atmospheric Science 37 works
  3. 3 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 31 works
  4. 4 Polar Research and Ecology Ecology 20 works
  5. 5 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 16 works
  6. 6 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 15 works
  7. 7 Marine Biology and Ecology Research Oceanography 11 works
  8. 8 Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes Oceanography 10 works
  9. 9 Marine animal studies overview Ecology 10 works
  10. 10 Marine and coastal ecosystems Oceanography 10 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 available47.9%not open52.1%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors36.4%domestic only63.6%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has British Antarctic Survey's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 17% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is British Antarctic Survey as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0017% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%British Antarctic Survey0.0016% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of British Antarctic Survey over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting10%20%30%British Antarctic Survey12.0% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 23.3% in 2009.

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British Antarctic Survey on Science Explorer

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Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where British Antarctic Survey is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

Overall

Fields

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners have tabs of their own, above.

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