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Government institution · Southampton · United Kingdom

Ordnance Survey

In research, Ordnance Survey stands highest in Physical Sciences (#6,352 of 17,446 worldwide) and Engineering (#3,766 of 9,532 worldwide), over all time.

ordnancesurvey.co.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, all time
#13,378
of 34,923
Rank in United Kingdom
#667
of 1,844
Research works
723
▲ 33% vs 2018-21
Citations
9.9k
13.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
16.3%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.82×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
12%
world 40%
International
16%
world 18%
Ordnance Survey

What is Ordnance Survey known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, over all time, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Physical SciencesDomain #6,352 of 17,446 8.4%593
EngineeringField #3,766 of 9,532 6.0%311

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Ordnance Survey 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 Ordnance Survey work in?

In 2022-now, 62% of research at Ordnance Survey is in Physical Sciences, 26% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (23%), Environmental Science (17%), Social Sciences (14%). It does 1.4× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 13 fractional works · 61.6% of its workEngineering: 5 fractional works · 23.1% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 1 fractional works · 4.1% of its workOcean Engineering: 1 fractional works · 2.8% of its workBuilding and Construction: 1 fractional works · 2.7% of its workComputational Mechanics: 0 fractional works · 2.3% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 0 fractional works · 2.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 0 fractional works · 2.1% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 0 fractional works · 1.8% of its workArchitecture: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workMechanical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workAerospace Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMechanics of Materials: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMedia Technology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnvironmental Science: 4 fractional works · 17.2% of its workEcology: 1 fractional works · 4.8% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 1 fractional works · 3.6% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 1 fractional works · 2.6% of its workEcological Modeling: 0 fractional works · 1.8% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 0 fractional works · 1.6% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 0 fractional works · 1.5% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 0 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPollution: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workComputer Science: 3 fractional works · 13.2% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 1 fractional works · 4.6% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 1 fractional works · 4.0% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 0 fractional works · 1.8% of its workInformation Systems: 0 fractional works · 1.7% of its workSignal Processing: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1 fractional works · 5.3% of its workGeology: 1 fractional works · 3.1% of its workGeophysics: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPaleontology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 0 fractional works · 1.7% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workModeling and Simulation: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSocial Sciences: 6 fractional works · 26.4% of its workSocial Sciences: 3 fractional works · 14.3% of its workTransportation: 1 fractional works · 6.7% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 1 fractional works · 2.6% of its workAnthropology: 0 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHealth: 0 fractional works · 1.2% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workDemography: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workLinguistics and Language: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSociology and Political Science: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 5.2% of its workManagement Information Systems: 0 fractional works · 2.0% of its workManagement of Technology and Innovation: 0 fractional works · 1.5% of its workStrategy and Management: 0 fractional works · 1.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 3.2% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 1 fractional works · 2.8% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPsychology: 1 fractional works · 2.5% of its workSocial Psychology: 0 fractional works · 1.5% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workHistory: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workLife Sciences: 2 fractional works · 7.2% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 1 fractional works · 3.9% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 3.1% of its workPlant Science: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 2.3% of its workMolecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 2.3% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 1.0% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 0 fractional works · 1.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 1 fractional works · 4.7% of its workMedicine: 1 fractional works · 4.6% of its workCritical Care and Intensive Care Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.9% of its workInfectious Diseases: 0 fractional works · 0.9% of its workBiochemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workInternal Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPhysiology: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSurgery: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKOrdnance Survey21fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences7%Physical Sciences62%Health Sciences5%Social Sciences26%

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 18 fields, with their numbers
    1. Engineering523.1%
    2. Environmental Science417.2%
    3. Computer Science313.2%
    4. Earth and Planetary Sciences15.3%
    5. Physics and Astronomy01.7%
    6. Mathematics00.8%
    7. Materials Science00.4%
    1. Social Sciences314.3%
    2. Business, Management and Accounting15.2%
    3. Decision Sciences13.2%
    4. Psychology12.5%
    5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance00.8%
    6. Arts and Humanities00.5%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences13.9%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology02.3%
    3. Neuroscience01.0%
    1. Medicine14.6%
    2. Nursing00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

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: 0.82× its world share, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.44× its world share, 0 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.64× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceComputer Science: 1.70× its world share, 3 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.34× its world share, 1 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 1.54× its world share, 5 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 3.47× its world share, 4 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.66× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.76× its world share, 0 worksPhysics and AstronomyMedicine: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksMedicineNursing: 0.29× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.18× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.60× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 3.34× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.36× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.81× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.13× its world share, 3 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Environmental Science, 3.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 18 fields, with their numbers
  1. Environmental Science3.47×4 works
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences3.34×1 works
  3. Decision Sciences3.34×1 works
  4. Computer Science1.70×3 works
  5. Business, Management and Accounting1.60×1 works
  6. Engineering1.54×5 works
  7. Social Sciences1.13×3 works
  8. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.82×1 works
  9. Psychology0.81×0 works
  10. Physics and Astronomy0.76×0 works
  11. Mathematics0.66×0 works
  12. Neuroscience0.64×0 works
  13. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.44×0 works
  14. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.36×0 works
  15. Nursing0.29×0 works
  16. Medicine0.24×1 works
  17. Arts and Humanities0.18×0 works
  18. Materials Science0.11×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Ordnance Survey?

Ranked on the quality score, David A. Holland, Glen Hart and Isabel M. J. Sargent lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Ordnance Survey.

  1. 1 David A. Holland United Kingdom · #1,150,942 worldwide 2.4k citations · 92 works
  2. 2 Glen Hart United Kingdom · #1,285,205 worldwide 1k citations · 41 works
  3. 3 Isabel M. J. Sargent United Kingdom · #1,553,259 worldwide 1.7k citations · 26 works
  4. 4 Clare Davies United Kingdom · #1,595,055 worldwide 912 citations · 66 works
  5. 5 Catherine Dolbear United Kingdom · #1,855,932 worldwide 646 citations · 25 works
  6. 6 O. G. S. Crawford United Kingdom · #2,083,378 worldwide 997 citations · 148 works
  7. 7 Richard Stevens Burington United Kingdom · #2,354,961 worldwide 861 citations · 58 works
  8. 8 Jenny Harding United Kingdom · #2,568,614 worldwide 431 citations · 19 works
  9. 9 Kaj L. Nielsen United Kingdom · #2,867,837 worldwide 275 citations · 25 works
  10. 10 Stefano Cavazzi United Kingdom · #2,974,078 worldwide 300 citations · 32 works
All ranked researchers at Ordnance Survey

What are the most cited papers from Ordnance Survey?

The most cited paper from Ordnance Survey is "Non‐linear Transformations of Divergent and Slowly Convergent Sequences" (Daniel N. Shanks, 1955), with 1,098 citations. Next come "Web Mapping 2.0: The Neogeography of the GeoWeb" (569) and "Joint Deep Learning for land cover and land use classification" (489).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Non‐linear Transformations of Divergent and Slowly Convergent Sequences Daniel N. Shanks · Studies in Applied Mathematics Apr 1955 1,098
2 Web Mapping 2.0: The Neogeography of the GeoWeb Muki Haklay, Alex David Singleton, Chris Parker · Geography Compass Nov 2008 569
3 Joint Deep Learning for land cover and land use classification Ce Zhang, Isabel M. J. Sargent, Xin Pan et al. · Remote Sensing of Environment Open access 21 Nov 2018 489
4 DISTRIBUTION OF PYROPHOSPHATE‐EXTRACTABLE IRON AND ORGANIC CARBON IN SOILS OF VARIOUS GROUPS C. L. Bascomb · Journal of Soil Science Sep 1968 447
5 An object-based convolutional neural network (OCNN) for urban land use classification Ce Zhang, Isabel M. J. Sargent, Xin Pan et al. · Remote Sensing of Environment Open access 3 Jul 2018 439
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Ordnance Survey?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Remote Sensing, Deep Learning, Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Climate Change, Cultural Heritage, Traceability, Big Data and Neural Networks.

▲ 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 10 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 10 words, with their numbers
  1. Deep Learning3▲ 3.5×12 topics
  2. Remote Sensing2▲ 7.2×9 topics
  3. Climate Change2▲ 3.0×11 topics
  4. Terrestrial Laser Scanning1▲ 51×2 topics
  5. Neural Networks1▲ 3.5×6 topics
  6. Sustainability1▲ 2.0×7 topics
  7. Artificial Intelligence1▲ 3.3×4 topics
  8. Big Data1▲ 4.9×6 topics
  9. Cultural Heritage1▲ 9.2×4 topics
  10. Traceability1▲ 74×2 topics

Which research topics does Ordnance Survey publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Urban Transport and Accessibility, Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications, 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage and Food Supply Chain Traceability.

Urban Transport and Acce…1Urban Transport and Accessibility: 1 fractional worksRemote Sensing and LiDAR…1Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications: 1 fractional works3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage: 1 fractional worksFood Supply Chain Traceability: 0 fractional worksIdentification and Quantification in Food: 0 fractional worksGeographic Information Systems Studies: 0 fractional worksRobotics and Automated Systems: 0 fractional worksTransportation Planning …0Transportation Planning and Optimization: 0 fractional worksSpecies Distribution and Climate Change: 0 fractional worksHuman Mobility and Location-Based Analysis: 0 fractional works
TransportationEnvironmental EngineeringGeologyFood Science4 others

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

  1. 1 Urban Transport and Accessibility Transportation 1 works
  2. 2 Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications Environmental Engineering 1 works
  3. 3 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage Geology 1 works
  4. 4 Food Supply Chain Traceability Food Science 0 works
  5. 5 Identification and Quantification in Food Molecular Biology 0 works
  6. 6 Geographic Information Systems Studies Geography, Planning and Development 0 works
  7. 7 Robotics and Automated Systems Control and Systems Engineering 0 works
  8. 8 Transportation Planning and Optimization Transportation 0 works
  9. 9 Species Distribution and Climate Change Ecological Modeling 0 works
  10. 10 Human Mobility and Location-Based Analysis Transportation 0 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 available12.0%not open88.0%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors15.5%domestic only84.5%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Ordnance Survey's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 33% higher 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 Ordnance Survey as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00012% in 2024.

still counting0.0010%0.0020%0.0030%Ordnance Survey0.00011% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Ordnance Survey 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.

10%20%all institutions10.0% in 2014Ordnance Survey8.9% in 20142010

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 16.0% in 2008.

Other research institutions in Southampton

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Ordnance Survey on Science Explorer

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