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Government institution · Exeter · United Kingdom

Met Office

In research, Met Office stands highest in Physical Sciences (#1,068 of 12,888 worldwide), Earth and Planetary Sciences (#112 of 1,209 worldwide) and Environmental Science (#916 of 3,551 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Atmospheric Science, Global and Planetary Change and Oceanography — Atmospheric Science is 67.6× its share of world research.

metoffice.gov.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,866
of 28,054 · #463 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#78
of 1,094
Research works
6.9k
▼ 3% vs 2013–17
Citations
320k
46.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
40%
world 28%

What is Met Office 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 #1,068 of 12,888 22.7%440 #300
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #112 of 1,209 22.7%192 #15
Environmental ScienceField #916 of 3,551 23.2%201 #127
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #88 of 301 22.3%145 #11
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #160 of 535 24.1%151 #6

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Met Office 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#300 #1,068
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences#15 #112
  3. Environmental Science#127 #916
  4. Atmospheric Science#11 #88
  5. Global and Planetary Change#6 #160
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 Met Office specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Atmospheric Science takes 67.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 145.5 works68×
  2. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 151.3 works41×
  3. OceanographySubfield · 36.2 works27×
  4. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 192.4 works25×
  5. Environmental ScienceField · 201.5 works8.3×
← 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: 0.49× its world share, 11 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.06× its world share, 2 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.19× its world share, 7 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 25.20× its world share, 192 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.15× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.36× its world share, 26 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 8.33× its world share, 202 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.98× its world share, 11 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.11× its world share, 1 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.02× its world share, 2 worksMedicineNursing: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.25× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.21× its world share, 3 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.97× its world share, 5 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.42× its world share, 4 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.25× its world share, 16 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 25.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Met Office?

Ranked on the composite score, Richard Jones, W. J. Collins and Richard Betts lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Met Office.

  1. 1 Richard Jones United Kingdom · #14,795 worldwide 850 citations · 110 works
  2. 2 W. J. Collins United Kingdom · #20,039 worldwide 737 citations · 60 works
  3. 3 Richard Betts United Kingdom · #27,795 worldwide 734 citations · 62 works
  4. 4 Michael Sanderson United Kingdom · #33,605 worldwide 434 citations · 37 works
  5. 5 J. F. B. Mitchell United Kingdom · #34,423 worldwide 731 citations · 35 works
  6. 6 Richard S. Hill United Kingdom · #35,532 worldwide 178 citations · 53 works
  7. 7 Richard G. Derwent United Kingdom · #40,055 worldwide 999 citations · 88 works
  8. 8 Jason Lowe United Kingdom · #43,134 worldwide 614 citations · 58 works
  9. 9 Richard Wood United Kingdom · #57,860 worldwide 453 citations · 31 works
  10. 10 R. Hide United Kingdom · #69,049 worldwide 339 citations · 64 works
All ranked researchers at Met Office

Which keywords describe research at Met Office?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Global Warming, Ocean Circulation, Hydrological Cycle, Data Assimilation, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Extreme Events and Climate Modeling.

▲ 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. Climate Change208▲ 16×71 topics
  2. Global Warming126▲ 64×12 topics
  3. Ocean Circulation105▲ 166×3 topics
  4. Hydrological Cycle94▲ 203×2 topics
  5. Data Assimilation88▲ 116×4 topics
  6. Greenhouse Gas Emissions83▲ 62×6 topics
  7. Extreme Events80▲ 189×2 topics
  8. Climate Modeling78▲ 225×1 topic
  9. Precipitation Extremes78▲ 225×1 topic
  10. Boundary Layer73▲ 121×3 topics
  11. Ensemble Kalman Filter67▲ 137×2 topics
  12. Probabilistic Forecasting67▲ 70×3 topics
  13. Convective Parameterization66▲ 250×1 topic
  14. Mesoscale Modeling66▲ 250×1 topic
  15. Remote Sensing65▲ 11×25 topics
  16. Satellite Observations40▲ 86×3 topics
  17. Air Quality39▲ 43×6 topics
  18. Sea Level Rise34▲ 54×3 topics
  19. Hydrological Modeling27▲ 24×5 topics
  20. Water Quality24▲ 12×5 topics
  21. Emissions24▲ 24×5 topics
  22. Shale Gas24▲ 38×2 topics
  23. Hydraulic Fracturing23▲ 43×2 topics
  24. Tropical Cyclones23▲ 86×2 topics
  25. Atmospheric23▲ 95×1 topic
  26. Methane23▲ 95×1 topic
  27. Natural Gas23▲ 50×2 topics
  28. Climate Change Impact21▲ 19×5 topics
  29. Oceanic Modeling20▲ 124×1 topic
  30. Tidal Analysis20▲ 124×1 topic
  31. Hurricanes19▲ 122×1 topic
  32. Storm Surge19▲ 122×1 topic
  33. Climate18▲ 42×2 topics
  34. Aerosols16▲ 50×1 topic
  35. Atmospheric Dust16▲ 139×1 topic
  36. Hydrology15▲ 25×4 topics
  37. Vulnerability14▲ 13×5 topics
  38. Atmospheric Aerosols14▲ 52×1 topic
  39. Black Carbon14▲ 52×1 topic
  40. Arctic14▲ 25×4 topics

Which research topics does Met Office publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Climate variability and models, Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations, Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics and Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes.

Climate variability and …78Climate variability and models: 78 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena…66Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 66 fractional worksAtmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 23 fractional worksOceanographic and Atmospheric Processes: 20 fractional worksTropical and Extratropic…19Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research: 19 fractional worksAtmospheric aerosols and clouds: 16 fractional worksAtmospheric chemistry and aerosols: 14 fractional worksAtmospheric Ozone and Climate: 12 fractional worksPrecipitation Measurement and Analysis: 8 fractional worksCryospheric studies and observations: 7 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric ScienceOceanography

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

  1. 1 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 78 works
  2. 2 Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations Atmospheric Science 66 works
  3. 3 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 23 works
  4. 4 Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes Oceanography 20 works
  5. 5 Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research Atmospheric Science 19 works
  6. 6 Atmospheric aerosols and clouds Global and Planetary Change 16 works
  7. 7 Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols Atmospheric Science 14 works
  8. 8 Atmospheric Ozone and Climate Atmospheric Science 12 works
  9. 9 Precipitation Measurement and Analysis Atmospheric Science 8 works
  10. 10 Cryospheric studies and observations Atmospheric Science 7 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 available39.5%not open60.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors23.4%domestic only76.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Met Office's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 3% 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 Exeter

All research institutions in Exeter

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.