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Research facility · Hampton · United States

Langley Research Center

In research, Langley Research Center stands highest in Physical Sciences (#2,175 of 12,888 worldwide), Engineering (#1,541 of 6,636 worldwide) and Earth and Planetary Sciences (#376 of 1,209 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Computational Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering and Atmospheric Science — Computational Mechanics is 20.1× its share of world research.

nasa.gov/langleyROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#4,002
of 28,054 · #262 all time
Rank in United States
#561
of 4,192
Research works
32k
▼ 23% vs 2013–17
Citations
531k
16.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
20.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
33%
world 28%

What is Langley 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 #2,175 of 12,888 20.1%1,019 #166
EngineeringField #1,541 of 6,636 20.7%613 #25
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #376 of 1,209 22.2%80 #39
Aerospace EngineeringSubfield #261 of 795 30.7%231 #2
Computational MechanicsSubfield #166 of 376 18.4%130 #1
Environmental ScienceField #1,971 of 3,551 20.0%108 #134
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #424 of 535 22.2%69 #28
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #248 of 301 23.1%64 #31
Physics and AstronomyField #1,543 of 1,646 21.7%80 #622

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Langley 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#166 #2,175
  2. Engineering#25 #1,541
  3. Earth and Planetary Sciences#39 #376
  4. Aerospace Engineering#2 #261
  5. Computational Mechanics#1 #166
  6. Environmental Science#134 #1,971
  7. Global and Planetary Change#28 #424
  8. Atmospheric Science#31 #248
  9. Physics and Astronomy#622 #1,543
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 Langley Research Center specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Computational Mechanics takes 20.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Computational MechanicsSubfield · 129.8 works20×
  2. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 231.2 works18×
  3. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 64.3 works13×
  4. Statistics, Probability and UncertaintySubfield · 23.7 works13×
  5. Applied MathematicsSubfield · 40.1 works13×
  6. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 52.9 works9.1×
  7. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 69.2 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: 0.03× its world share, 2 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.06× its world share, 4 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.15× its world share, 3 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.81× its world share, 3 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.38× its world share, 7 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.67× its world share, 58 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4.57× its world share, 80 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.28× its world share, 3 worksEnergyEngineering: 3.67× its world share, 613 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.94× its world share, 108 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.61× its world share, 24 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 3.41× its world share, 45 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.21× its world share, 80 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.44× its world share, 13 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.09× its world share, 19 worksMedicineBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.06× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.87× its world share, 31 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.12× its world share, 3 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.35× its world share, 12 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.04× its world share, 6 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 4.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Langley Research Center?

Ranked on the composite score, M. P. McCormick, Thomas F. Brooks and Bruce A. Wielicki lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Langley Research Center.

  1. 1 M. P. McCormick United States · #21,880 worldwide 464 citations · 57 works
  2. 2 Thomas F. Brooks United States · #26,983 worldwide 678 citations · 36 works
  3. 3 Bruce A. Wielicki United States · #27,044 worldwide 753 citations · 75 works
  4. 4 Mark H. Carpenter United States · #27,052 worldwide 588 citations · 38 works
  5. 5 Charles G. Speziale United States · #30,370 worldwide 427 citations · 50 works
  6. 6 G. Louis Smith United States · #32,482 worldwide 621 citations · 68 works
  7. 7 James W. Johnson United States · #36,636 worldwide 633 citations · 66 works
  8. 8 Thomas A. Zang United States · #36,710 worldwide 882 citations · 32 works
  9. 9 David A. Hilton United States · #38,194 worldwide 364 citations · 39 works
  10. 10 Bruce R. Barkstrom United States · #41,116 worldwide 453 citations · 37 works
All ranked researchers at Langley Research Center

Which keywords describe research at Langley Research Center?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Large-Eddy Simulation, Air Quality, Turbulent Flow, Heat Transfer, Adaptive Mesh Refinement, High-Order Schemes, Radial Basis Functions and Shock-Wave Interactions.

▲ 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. Large-Eddy Simulation121▲ 57×5 topics
  2. Air Quality84▲ 41×6 topics
  3. Turbulent Flow74▲ 56×3 topics
  4. Heat Transfer64▲ 12×10 topics
  5. Adaptive Mesh Refinement62▲ 90×2 topics
  6. High-Order Schemes62▲ 90×2 topics
  7. Radial Basis Functions60▲ 76×2 topics
  8. Shock-Wave Interactions59▲ 135×1 topic
  9. Turbulence Modeling59▲ 135×1 topic
  10. Flow Control52▲ 87×2 topics
  11. Spectral Analysis47▲ 48×2 topics
  12. Acoustic Sources47▲ 212×1 topic
  13. Jet Noise47▲ 212×1 topic
  14. Satellite Observations47▲ 43×3 topics
  15. Vortex Dynamics44▲ 35×3 topics
  16. Fluid Mechanics44▲ 54×2 topics
  17. Particle Image Velocimetry44▲ 56×1 topic
  18. Turbulent Flows44▲ 39×1 topic
  19. Remote Sensing44▲ 3.2×25 topics
  20. Risk Assessment43▲ 5.8×11 topics
  21. Kinetic Theory42▲ 83×2 topics
  22. Boundary Layer40▲ 29×4 topics
  23. Numerical Methods40▲ 43×2 topics
  24. Boltzmann Equation39▲ 170×1 topic
  25. Rarefied Flows39▲ 170×1 topic
  26. Vibration Control38▲ 57×4 topics
  27. Collision Avoidance36▲ 18×4 topics
  28. Emissions33▲ 15×5 topics
  29. Hydrological Cycle31▲ 29×2 topics
  30. Parameter Estimation31▲ 22×3 topics
  31. Flight Control29▲ 93×2 topics
  32. Climate27▲ 28×2 topics
  33. Aerosols26▲ 35×1 topic
  34. Atmospheric Dust26▲ 97×1 topic
  35. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles26▲ 12×2 topics
  36. Dynamic Soaring25▲ 156×1 topic
  37. Wind Estimation25▲ 156×1 topic
  38. Wave Propagation25▲ 20×2 topics
  39. Mars24▲ 66×1 topic
  40. Martian Surface24▲ 66×1 topic

Which research topics does Langley Research Center publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics, Aerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows, Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows and Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory.

Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics: 59 fractional worksAerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows: 47 fractional worksFluid Dynamics and Turbu…44Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows: 44 fractional worksGas Dynamics and Kinetic…39Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory: 39 fractional worksAtmospheric aerosols and clouds: 26 fractional worksAerospace and Aviation Technology: 25 fractional worksPlanetary Science and Ex…24Planetary Science and Exploration: 24 fractional worksAir Traffic Management a…24Air Traffic Management and Optimization: 24 fractional worksAtmospheric chemistry an…23Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols: 23 fractional worksAcoustic Wave Phenomena …22Acoustic Wave Phenomena Research: 22 fractional works
Computational MechanicsAerospace EngineeringApplied MathematicsGlobal and Planetary Change3 others

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

  1. 1 Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics Computational Mechanics 59 works
  2. 2 Aerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows Aerospace Engineering 47 works
  3. 3 Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows Computational Mechanics 44 works
  4. 4 Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory Applied Mathematics 39 works
  5. 5 Atmospheric aerosols and clouds Global and Planetary Change 26 works
  6. 6 Aerospace and Aviation Technology Aerospace Engineering 25 works
  7. 7 Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy and Astrophysics 24 works
  8. 8 Air Traffic Management and Optimization Aerospace Engineering 24 works
  9. 9 Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols Atmospheric Science 23 works
  10. 10 Acoustic Wave Phenomena Research Biomedical Engineering 22 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 available33.0%not open67.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors4.6%domestic only95.4%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Langley Research Center's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 23% 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 Hampton

All research institutions in Hampton

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.