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Research facility · Leicester · United Kingdom

National Centre for Earth Observation

In research, National Centre for Earth Observation stands highest in Environmental Science (#1,073 of 3,334 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#5,372 of 10,670 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Atmospheric Science, Global and Planetary Change and Earth and Planetary Sciences (Atmospheric Science is 54.5× its share of world research).

nceo.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#14,890
of 22,385 · #3,617 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#506
of 862
Research works
640
▼ 24% vs 2018-21
Citations
21k
32.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
13.6%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.02×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
78%
world 40%
International
55%
world 18%
National Centre for Earth Observation

What is National Centre for Earth Observation 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
Environmental ScienceField #1,073 of 3,334 15.8%70 #608
Physical SciencesDomain #5,372 of 10,670 13.6%136 #1640

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where National Centre for Earth Observation 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 fields of science does National Centre for Earth Observation work in?

In 2022-now, 91% of research at National Centre for Earth Observation is in Physical Sciences, 5% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Environmental Science (46%), Earth and Planetary Sciences (33%), Engineering (6%). It does 2.3× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 177 fractional works · 90.9% of its workEnvironmental Science: 89 fractional works · 45.6% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 52 fractional works · 26.8% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 12 fractional works · 6.2% of its workEcology: 11 fractional works · 5.7% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 3 fractional works · 1.7% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 3 fractional works · 1.3% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workWater Science and Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEcological Modeling: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPollution: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 65 fractional works · 33.0% of its workAtmospheric Science: 47 fractional works · 24.1% of its workOceanography: 12 fractional works · 6.0% of its workGeophysics: 4 fractional works · 2.1% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workGeology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEngineering: 12 fractional works · 6.3% of its workAerospace Engineering: 4 fractional works · 2.3% of its workMedia Technology: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workOcean Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComputational Mechanics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMechanics of Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMechanical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 4 fractional works · 2.0% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 3 fractional works · 1.3% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Science: 3 fractional works · 1.6% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workChemistry: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSpectroscopy: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnergy: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 10 fractional works · 5.3% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 9 fractional works · 4.6% of its workPlant Science: 3 fractional works · 1.7% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSoil Science: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workInsect Science: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workForestry: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAgronomy and Crop Science: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workMolecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 4 fractional works · 2.0% of its workMedicine: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysiology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workHealth Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 4 fractional works · 1.8% of its workSocial Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSociology and Political Science: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKNational Centrefor Earth…195fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences5%Physical Sciences91%Health Sciences2%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 22 fields, with their numbers
    1. Environmental Science8945.6%
    2. Earth and Planetary Sciences6533.0%
    3. Engineering126.3%
    4. Physics and Astronomy42.0%
    5. Computer Science31.6%
    6. Chemistry21.1%
    7. Energy10.8%
    8. Mathematics00.1%
    9. Chemical Engineering00.1%
    10. Materials Science00.1%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences94.6%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology10.7%
    3. Neuroscience00.0%
    1. Medicine21.2%
    2. Health Professions10.7%
    3. Dentistry00.1%
    4. Nursing00.0%
    1. Social Sciences20.8%
    2. Economics, Econometrics and Finance10.5%
    3. Decision Sciences10.5%
    4. Business, Management and Accounting00.1%
    5. Arts and Humanities00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does National Centre for Earth Observation specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Atmospheric Science takes 54.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 47.0 works54×
  2. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 52.4 works35×
  3. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 64.5 works21×
  4. Environmental ScienceField · 89.1 works9.2×
← 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: 0.97× its world share, 9 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.35× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.69× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.21× its world share, 3 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 21.07× its world share, 64 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.83× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.42× its world share, 12 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 9.19× its world share, 89 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.91× its world share, 4 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.15× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.25× its world share, 1 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.06× its world share, 2 worksMedicineNursing: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.47× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Social Sciences: 0.06× its world share, 2 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 21.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 22 fields, with their numbers
  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences21.07×64 works
  2. Environmental Science9.19×89 works
  3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.97×9 works
  4. Physics and Astronomy0.91×4 works
  5. Energy0.83×2 works
  6. Chemistry0.69×2 works
  7. Decision Sciences0.47×1 works
  8. Engineering0.42×12 works
  9. Chemical Engineering0.35×0 works
  10. Health Professions0.25×1 works
  11. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.22×1 works
  12. Computer Science0.21×3 works
  13. Dentistry0.15×0 works
  14. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.12×1 works
  15. Mathematics0.11×0 works
  16. Medicine0.06×2 works
  17. Social Sciences0.06×2 works
  18. Nursing0.05×0 works
  19. Materials Science0.03×0 works
  20. Neuroscience0.02×0 works
  21. Arts and Humanities0.02×0 works
  22. Business, Management and Accounting0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at National Centre for Earth Observation?

Ranked on the quality score, Adam C. Povey, Nezha Acil and Lucy J. Ventress lead among researchers whose main affiliation is National Centre for Earth Observation.

  1. 1 Adam C. Povey United Kingdom · #294,731 worldwide 1.9k citations · 72 works
  2. 2 Nezha Acil United Kingdom · #530,056 worldwide 579 citations · 25 works
  3. 3 Lucy J. Ventress United Kingdom · #948,923 worldwide 459 citations · 58 works
  4. 4 Gregory McGarragh United Kingdom · #1,223,908 worldwide 693 citations · 29 works
  5. 5 Mary Langsdale United Kingdom · #1,649,550 worldwide 63 citations · 18 works
  6. 6 H.L.E. de Groot United Kingdom · #1,705,669 worldwide 263 citations · 23 works
  7. 7 Daniel C. Watters United Kingdom · #2,117,506 worldwide 476 citations · 21 works
  8. 8 L. Miguel Ayala United Kingdom · #2,207,531 worldwide 243 citations · 26 works
All ranked researchers at National Centre for Earth Observation

What are the most cited papers from National Centre for Earth Observation?

The most cited paper from National Centre for Earth Observation is "The Global Methane Budget 2000-2017" (Marielle Saunois et al., 2019), with 2,765 citations. Next come "Global Carbon Budget 2020" (2,578) and "The HITRAN2020 molecular spectroscopic database" (2,488).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Global Methane Budget 2000-2017 Marielle Saunois et al. · UVic’s Research and Learning Repository (University of Victoria) Open access 28 Aug 2019 2,765
2 Global Carbon Budget 2020 Pierre Friedlingstein et al. · Earth system science data Open access 10 Dec 2020 2,578
3 The HITRAN2020 molecular spectroscopic database Iouli E. Gordon et al. · Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer Open access 27 Sep 2021 2,488
4 A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks Hanqin Tian et al. · Nature Open access 7 Oct 2020 1,995
5 Global Carbon Budget 2022 Pierre Friedlingstein et al. · Earth system science data Open access106 authors 8 Nov 2022 1,916
All 59 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at National Centre for Earth Observation?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Remote Sensing, Satellite Observations, Global Warming, Ocean Circulation, Hydrological Cycle, Air Quality and Data Assimilation.

▲ 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 Change64▲ 12×63 topics
  2. Remote Sensing40▲ 17×26 topics
  3. Satellite Observations23▲ 118×3 topics
  4. Global Warming22▲ 27×11 topics
  5. Ocean Circulation19▲ 71×3 topics
  6. Hydrological Cycle18▲ 91×2 topics
  7. Air Quality18▲ 48×5 topics
  8. Data Assimilation17▲ 53×4 topics
  9. Water Quality15▲ 19×6 topics
  10. Emissions15▲ 38×4 topics
  11. Shale Gas14▲ 61×2 topics
  12. Hydraulic Fracturing14▲ 67×2 topics
  13. Atmospheric14▲ 151×1 topic
  14. Methane14▲ 151×1 topic
  15. Greenhouse Gas Emissions14▲ 25×6 topics
  16. Extreme Events12▲ 67×2 topics
  17. Climate12▲ 63×2 topics
  18. Climate Modeling12▲ 81×1 topic
  19. Precipitation Extremes12▲ 81×1 topic
  20. Ecosystem Resilience11▲ 37×5 topics
  21. Boundary Layer11▲ 45×2 topics
  22. Hydrological Modeling11▲ 24×5 topics
  23. Ensemble Kalman Filter11▲ 54×2 topics
  24. Convective Parameterization11▲ 95×1 topic
  25. Mesoscale Modeling11▲ 95×1 topic
  26. Biomass Estimation10▲ 34×3 topics
  27. Chemical Composition10▲ 56×2 topics
  28. Atmospheric Aerosols10▲ 94×1 topic
  29. Black Carbon10▲ 94×1 topic
  30. Ozone Depletion9▲ 159×1 topic
  31. Stratospheric Water Vapor9▲ 159×1 topic
  32. Hydrology8▲ 32×4 topics
  33. Global Change7▲ 14×4 topics
  34. Arctic7▲ 33×4 topics
  35. Sea Level Rise6▲ 27×3 topics
  36. Aerosols6▲ 46×1 topic
  37. Atmospheric Dust6▲ 119×1 topic
  38. Phenology6▲ 42×1 topic
  39. Vegetation Monitoring6▲ 42×1 topic
  40. Validation6▲ 31×2 topics

Which research topics does National Centre for Earth Observation publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics, Climate variability and models, Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations and Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols.

Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 14 fractional worksClimate variability and models: 12 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena…11Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 11 fractional worksAtmospheric chemistry an…10Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols: 10 fractional worksAtmospheric Ozone and Climate: 9 fractional worksAtmospheric aerosols and clouds: 6 fractional worksRemote Sensing in Agricu…6Remote Sensing in Agriculture: 6 fractional worksFire effects on ecosystems: 5 fractional worksPlant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics: 4 fractional worksArctic and Antarctic ice dynamics: 4 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric ScienceEcology

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

  1. 1 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 14 works
  2. 2 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 12 works
  3. 3 Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations Atmospheric Science 11 works
  4. 4 Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols Atmospheric Science 10 works
  5. 5 Atmospheric Ozone and Climate Atmospheric Science 9 works
  6. 6 Atmospheric aerosols and clouds Global and Planetary Change 6 works
  7. 7 Remote Sensing in Agriculture Ecology 6 works
  8. 8 Fire effects on ecosystems Global and Planetary Change 5 works
  9. 9 Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 4 works
  10. 10 Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics Atmospheric Science 4 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 available78.1%not open21.9%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors54.7%domestic only45.3%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has National Centre for Earth Observation's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 24% 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 National Centre for Earth Observation as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00061% in 2024.

still counting0.00050%0.0010%0.0015%National Centre for Earth Observation0.00093% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of National Centre for Earth Observation 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%National Centre for Earth Observation12.0% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 20252020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 27.1% in 2016.

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