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Research facility · Boulder · United States

NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research

In research, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research stands highest in Earth and Planetary Sciences (#36 of 1,209 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#597 of 12,888 worldwide) and Atmospheric Science (#25 of 301 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 71.0× its share of world research.

ncar.ucar.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,079
of 28,054 · #198 all time
Rank in United States
#188
of 4,192
Research works
11k
▼ 17% vs 2013–17
Citations
822k
74.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
46%
world 28%

What is NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research 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
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #36 of 1,209 23.5%324 #1
Physical SciencesDomain #597 of 12,888 23.0%768 #103
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #25 of 301 23.6%258 #1
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #61 of 535 25.1%225 #1
Environmental ScienceField #458 of 3,551 24.6%309 #32
Physics and AstronomyField #1,630 of 1,646 20.9%63 #1654

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research 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. Earth and Planetary Sciences#1 #36
  2. Physical Sciences#103 #597
  3. Atmospheric Science#1 #25
  4. Global and Planetary Change#1 #61
  5. Environmental Science#32 #458
  6. Physics and Astronomy#1,654 #1,630
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 NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Atmospheric Science takes 71.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 257.9 works71×
  2. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 225.0 works36×
  3. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 324.5 works25×
  4. OceanographySubfield · 45.4 works20×
  5. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 58.6 works14×
  6. Environmental ScienceField · 309.1 works7.6×
  7. Environmental EngineeringSubfield · 31.6 works7.1×
← 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: 0.21× its world share, 8 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.20× its world share, 9 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.18× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.32× its world share, 20 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 25.19× its world share, 324 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.52× its world share, 4 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.33× its world share, 41 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 7.57× its world share, 309 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.07× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.46× its world share, 63 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.12× its world share, 3 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.03× its world share, 4 worksMedicineNursing: 0.16× its world share, 1 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.79× its world share, 6 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.23× its world share, 4 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.15× 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 NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research?

Ranked on the composite score, Jean‐François Lamarque, Jimy Dudhia and Kevin E. Trenberth lead among researchers whose main affiliation is NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research.

  1. 1 Jean‐François Lamarque United States · #1,188 worldwide 2.6k citations · 134 works
  2. 2 Jimy Dudhia United States · #2,672 worldwide 2.3k citations · 75 works
  3. 3 Kevin E. Trenberth United States · #3,298 worldwide 2.3k citations · 109 works
  4. 4 Robert E. Dickinson United States · #3,739 worldwide 1.4k citations · 98 works
  5. 5 Mariana Vertenstein United States · #9,606 worldwide 891 citations · 55 works
  6. 6 Marika M. Holland United States · #11,158 worldwide 1k citations · 54 works
  7. 7 William C. Skamarock United States · #12,348 worldwide 1.5k citations · 46 works
  8. 8 James W. Hurrell United States · #16,533 worldwide 906 citations · 45 works
  9. 9 David M. Lawrence United States · #17,473 worldwide 1.2k citations · 110 works
  10. 10 Fei Chen United States · #17,488 worldwide 997 citations · 61 works
All ranked researchers at NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research

Which keywords describe research at NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research?

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

▲ 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 Change298▲ 13×68 topics
  2. Global Warming156▲ 47×13 topics
  3. Hydrological Cycle131▲ 167×2 topics
  4. Ocean Circulation124▲ 116×3 topics
  5. Data Assimilation118▲ 92×4 topics
  6. Boundary Layer108▲ 107×2 topics
  7. Remote Sensing104▲ 10×24 topics
  8. Greenhouse Gas Emissions104▲ 47×7 topics
  9. Extreme Events104▲ 145×2 topics
  10. Climate Modeling96▲ 165×1 topic
  11. Precipitation Extremes96▲ 165×1 topic
  12. Ensemble Kalman Filter96▲ 116×2 topics
  13. Probabilistic Forecasting96▲ 60×3 topics
  14. Convective Parameterization95▲ 213×1 topic
  15. Mesoscale Modeling95▲ 213×1 topic
  16. Air Quality85▲ 56×5 topics
  17. Satellite Observations76▲ 96×3 topics
  18. Sea Level Rise59▲ 57×3 topics
  19. Hydrological Modeling47▲ 24×5 topics
  20. Solar Wind47▲ 61×2 topics
  21. Water Quality44▲ 14×7 topics
  22. Tropical Cyclones39▲ 87×2 topics
  23. Emissions39▲ 24×4 topics
  24. Shale Gas39▲ 37×2 topics
  25. Atmospheric38▲ 95×1 topic
  26. Methane38▲ 95×1 topic
  27. Climate36▲ 51×2 topics
  28. Atmospheric Aerosols36▲ 79×1 topic
  29. Black Carbon36▲ 79×1 topic
  30. Ice Nucleation34▲ 105×2 topics
  31. Aerosols34▲ 62×1 topic
  32. Atmospheric Dust34▲ 172×1 topic
  33. Ozone Depletion32▲ 132×1 topic
  34. Stratospheric Water Vapor32▲ 132×1 topic
  35. Hurricanes31▲ 116×1 topic
  36. Storm Surge31▲ 116×1 topic
  37. Hydrology30▲ 29×4 topics
  38. Ecosystem Resilience27▲ 22×5 topics
  39. Ionosphere26▲ 57×1 topic
  40. Magnetosphere26▲ 57×1 topic

Which research topics does NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research publish most on?

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

Climate variability and …96Climate variability and models: 96 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena…95Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 95 fractional worksAtmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 38 fractional worksAtmospheric chemistry and aerosols: 36 fractional worksAtmospheric aerosols and clouds: 34 fractional worksAtmospheric Ozone and Cl…32Atmospheric Ozone and Climate: 32 fractional worksTropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research: 31 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 26 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 20 fractional worksOceanographic and Atmospheric Processes: 18 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric ScienceAstronomy and AstrophysicsOceanography

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

  1. 1 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 96 works
  2. 2 Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations Atmospheric Science 95 works
  3. 3 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 38 works
  4. 4 Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols Atmospheric Science 36 works
  5. 5 Atmospheric aerosols and clouds Global and Planetary Change 34 works
  6. 6 Atmospheric Ozone and Climate Atmospheric Science 32 works
  7. 7 Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research Atmospheric Science 31 works
  8. 8 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 26 works
  9. 9 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 20 works
  10. 10 Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes Oceanography 18 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 available45.7%not open54.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors23.7%domestic only76.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% 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 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.