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Government institution · Boulder · United States

NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory

In research, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#2,629 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Atmospheric Science, Global and Planetary Change and Earth and Planetary Sciences — Atmospheric Science is 76.5× its share of world research.

psl.noaa.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#4,698
of 28,054 · #4,624 all time
Rank in United States
#652
of 4,192
Research works
586
▲ 359% vs 2013–17
Citations
20k
33.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
39%
world 28%

What is NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory 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 #2,629 of 12,888 23.9%106 #3048

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory 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).

What does NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Atmospheric Science takes 76.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 36.8 works76×
  2. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 34.0 works41×
  3. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 51.0 works30×
  4. Environmental ScienceField · 43.0 works7.9×
← 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: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.10× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.43× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.19× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.21× its world share, 2 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 29.81× its world share, 51 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.17× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.42× its world share, 7 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 7.94× its world share, 43 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.26× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.07× its world share, 3 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksMedicineNursing: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksNursingBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.42× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesPsychology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 29.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research at NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Ocean Circulation, Global Warming, Data Assimilation, Hydrological Cycle, Extreme Events, Greenhouse Gas Emissions 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 Change47▲ 16×38 topics
  2. Ocean Circulation30▲ 214×3 topics
  3. Global Warming28▲ 64×8 topics
  4. Data Assimilation26▲ 154×4 topics
  5. Hydrological Cycle23▲ 217×2 topics
  6. Extreme Events20▲ 207×2 topics
  7. Greenhouse Gas Emissions19▲ 65×3 topics
  8. Climate Modeling19▲ 246×1 topic
  9. Precipitation Extremes19▲ 246×1 topic
  10. Boundary Layer17▲ 127×2 topics
  11. Probabilistic Forecasting17▲ 79×2 topics
  12. Remote Sensing17▲ 12×17 topics
  13. Ensemble Kalman Filter16▲ 151×2 topics
  14. Convective Parameterization16▲ 275×1 topic
  15. Mesoscale Modeling16▲ 275×1 topic
  16. Satellite Observations10▲ 92×3 topics
  17. Hydrological Modeling9▲ 36×5 topics
  18. Sea Level Rise9▲ 66×3 topics
  19. Climate Change Impact8▲ 32×2 topics
  20. Oceanic Modeling8▲ 217×1 topic
  21. Tidal Analysis8▲ 217×1 topic
  22. Air Quality7▲ 33×3 topics
  23. Tropical Cyclones6▲ 107×2 topics
  24. Hurricanes5▲ 146×1 topic
  25. Storm Surge5▲ 146×1 topic
  26. Validation5▲ 53×3 topics
  27. Arctic5▲ 40×4 topics
  28. Hydrology5▲ 37×4 topics
  29. Water Quality4▲ 10×3 topics
  30. Emissions4▲ 19×2 topics
  31. Natural Gas4▲ 41×2 topics
  32. Methane4▲ 77×1 topic
  33. Shale Gas4▲ 30×1 topic
  34. Drought4▲ 37×2 topics
  35. Evapotranspiration4▲ 45×2 topics
  36. Climate4▲ 38×2 topics
  37. Aerosols4▲ 48×1 topic
  38. Atmospheric Dust4▲ 133×1 topic
  39. Decline4▲ 123×1 topic
  40. Sea Ice4▲ 123×1 topic

Which research topics does NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Climate variability and models, Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations, Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes and Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research.

Climate variability and …19Climate variability and models: 19 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena…16Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 16 fractional worksOceanographic and Atmospheric Processes: 8 fractional worksTropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research: 5 fractional worksAtmospheric and Environm…4Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 4 fractional worksArctic and Antarctic ice dynamics: 4 fractional worksAtmospheric aerosols and clouds: 4 fractional worksPrecipitation Measurement and Analysis: 3 fractional worksCryospheric studies and observations: 3 fractional worksPlant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics: 2 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric ScienceOceanography

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

  1. 1 Climate variability and modelsGlobal and Planetary Change 19 works
  2. 2 Meteorological Phenomena and SimulationsAtmospheric Science 16 works
  3. 3 Oceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesOceanography 8 works
  4. 4 Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones ResearchAtmospheric Science 5 works
  5. 5 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas DynamicsGlobal and Planetary Change 4 works
  6. 6 Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamicsAtmospheric Science 4 works
  7. 7 Atmospheric aerosols and cloudsGlobal and Planetary Change 4 works
  8. 8 Precipitation Measurement and AnalysisAtmospheric Science 3 works
  9. 9 Cryospheric studies and observationsAtmospheric Science 3 works
  10. 10 Plant Water Relations and Carbon DynamicsGlobal and Planetary Change 2 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 available39.3%not open60.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.6%domestic only80.4%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 359% higher 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 Boulder

All research institutions in Boulder

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.