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Research facility · Richland · United States

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

In research, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#7,310 of 10,670 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Environmental Science (Environmental Science is 8.5× its share of world research).

pnnl.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#17,795
of 22,385 · #6,788 all time
Rank in United States
#2,605
of 3,332
Research works
497
▼ 38% vs 2018-21
Citations
28k
55.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
19.3%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.07×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
86%
world 40%
International
5%
world 18%
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

What is Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 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
Physical SciencesDomain #7,310 of 10,670 20.5%60 #2735

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Pacific Northwest National 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 average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does Pacific Northwest National Laboratory work in?

In 2022-now, 75% of research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is in Physical Sciences, 15% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Environmental Science (42%), Engineering (14%), Economics, Econometrics and Finance (9%). It does 1.9× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 67 fractional works · 75.2% of its workEnvironmental Science: 38 fractional works · 42.3% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 15 fractional works · 17.1% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 6 fractional works · 6.6% of its workEcology: 4 fractional works · 4.5% of its workWater Science and Technology: 4 fractional works · 4.4% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 2 fractional works · 2.6% of its workPollution: 2 fractional works · 2.4% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 1 fractional works · 1.3% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 1 fractional works · 1.3% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEcological Modeling: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEngineering: 13 fractional works · 14.1% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 3 fractional works · 3.1% of its workMechanical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 2.6% of its workOcean Engineering: 2 fractional works · 2.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 2.2% of its workAerospace Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workMechanics of Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workBuilding and Construction: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnergy: 7 fractional works · 7.5% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 5 fractional works · 5.8% of its workEnergy Engineering and Power Technology: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workGeneral Energy: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 6 fractional works · 6.5% of its workAtmospheric Science: 5 fractional works · 5.2% of its workOceanography: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 2 fractional works · 2.6% of its workBiomaterials: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workComputer Science: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workInformation Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCatalysis: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workChemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSpectroscopy: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 14 fractional works · 15.4% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 8 fractional works · 9.2% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 8 fractional works · 9.0% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 4 fractional works · 4.0% of its workSociology and Political Science: 3 fractional works · 3.2% of its workUrban Studies: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workTransportation: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPsychology: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSocial Psychology: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workManagement of Technology and Innovation: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 8 fractional works · 8.6% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 6 fractional works · 7.3% of its workSoil Science: 2 fractional works · 2.2% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 2 fractional works · 1.8% of its workPlant Science: 2 fractional works · 1.7% of its workAgronomy and Crop Science: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workInsect Science: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 1.3% of its workMolecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workBiophysics: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMedicine: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth Professions: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workALL ITS WORKPacific NorthwestNational…89fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences9%Physical Sciences75%Health Sciences1%Social Sciences15%

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 21 fields, with their numbers
    1. Environmental Science3842.3%
    2. Engineering1314.1%
    3. Energy77.5%
    4. Earth and Planetary Sciences66.5%
    5. Materials Science22.6%
    6. Computer Science11.1%
    7. Chemical Engineering00.4%
    8. Chemistry00.3%
    9. Mathematics00.2%
    10. Physics and Astronomy00.2%
    1. Economics, Econometrics and Finance89.2%
    2. Social Sciences44.0%
    3. Decision Sciences11.4%
    4. Psychology00.5%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting00.3%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences67.3%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology11.3%
    3. Neuroscience00.1%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
    1. Medicine00.5%
    2. Health Professions00.3%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Pacific Northwest National Laboratory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Environmental Science takes 8.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Environmental ScienceField · 37.6 works8.5×
← 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: 1.53× its world share, 6 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.10× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.19× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4.15× its world share, 6 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 8.22× its world share, 7 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.94× its world share, 12 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 8.52× its world share, 38 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.73× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.16× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksMedicineBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.48× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 4.29× its world share, 8 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.15× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.32× its world share, 4 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Environmental Science, 8.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 21 fields, with their numbers
  1. Environmental Science8.52×38 works
  2. Energy8.22×7 works
  3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance4.29×8 works
  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences4.15×6 works
  5. Agricultural and Biological Sciences1.53×6 works
  6. Decision Sciences1.48×1 works
  7. Chemical Engineering1.10×0 works
  8. Engineering0.94×12 works
  9. Materials Science0.73×2 works
  10. Social Sciences0.32×4 works
  11. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.24×1 works
  12. Chemistry0.19×0 works
  13. Mathematics0.16×0 works
  14. Psychology0.15×0 works
  15. Computer Science0.14×1 works
  16. Health Professions0.12×0 works
  17. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.10×0 works
  18. Business, Management and Accounting0.09×0 works
  19. Physics and Astronomy0.08×0 works
  20. Neuroscience0.03×0 works
  21. Medicine0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory?

Ranked on the quality score, Ji‐Guang Zhang, Janet K Jansson and Joshua Adkins lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

  1. 1 Ji‐Guang Zhang United States · #113 worldwide 92k citations · 622 works
  2. 2 Janet K Jansson United States · #725 worldwide 72k citations · 14,388 works
  3. 3 Joshua Adkins United States · #762 worldwide 18k citations · 138,046 works
  4. 4 Samuel Owen Purvine United States · #1,069 worldwide 12k citations · 39,996 works
  5. 5 Paul Piehowski United States · #1,085 worldwide 9.7k citations · 73,703 works
  6. 6 Thomas Metz United States · #1,418 worldwide 22k citations · 51,723 works
  7. 7 Karin Rodland United States · #1,476 worldwide 16k citations · 153,290 works
  8. 8 Vladislav Petyuk United States · #1,597 worldwide 17k citations · 135,106 works
  9. 9 Richard Smith United States · #1,676 worldwide 115k citations · 62,952 works
  10. 10 Chia‐Feng Tsai United States · #1,764 worldwide 4.7k citations · 58,753 works
All ranked researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

What are the most cited papers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory?

The most cited paper from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is "Reproducible, interactive, scalable and extensible microbiome data science using QIIME 2" (Evan K Bolyen et al., 2019), with 25,165 citations. Next come "Electron affinities of the first-row atoms revisited. Systematic basis sets and wave functions" (15,720) and "Gaussian basis sets for use in correlated molecular calculations. III. The atoms aluminum through argon" (9,597).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Reproducible, interactive, scalable and extensible microbiome data science using QIIME 2 Evan K Bolyen et al. · Nature Biotechnology Open access112 authors 24 Jul 2019 25,165
2 Electron affinities of the first-row atoms revisited. Systematic basis sets and wave functions Rick A. Kendall, Thom H. Dunning, Robert J. Harrison · The Journal of Chemical Physics May 1992 15,720
3 Gaussian basis sets for use in correlated molecular calculations. III. The atoms aluminum through argon David E. Woon, Thom H. Dunning · The Journal of Chemical Physics 15 Jan 1993 9,597
4 The representative concentration pathways: an overview Detlef Peter van Vuuren, Jae Edmonds, Mikiko Kainuma et al. · Climatic Change Open access 4 Aug 2011 8,089
5 The HITRAN2016 molecular spectroscopic database Iouli E. Gordon et al. · Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer Open access 4 Jul 2017 7,973
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Sustainability, Global Warming, Renewable Energy, Environmental Impact, Energy Transition and Environmental Policy.

▲ 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 Change33▲ 14×55 topics
  2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions15▲ 60×8 topics
  3. Sustainability15▲ 6.7×23 topics
  4. Global Warming12▲ 32×11 topics
  5. Environmental Impact11▲ 7.4×16 topics
  6. Renewable Energy11▲ 8.6×19 topics
  7. Energy Transition9▲ 71×3 topics
  8. Environmental Policy7▲ 40×4 topics
  9. Emissions6▲ 37×4 topics
  10. Water Quality6▲ 16×4 topics
  11. Natural Gas6▲ 69×2 topics
  12. Economic Impacts6▲ 95×1 topic
  13. Policy Instruments6▲ 105×1 topic
  14. Life Cycle Assessment5▲ 22×5 topics
  15. Satellite Observations5▲ 60×3 topics
  16. Sustainability Assessment5▲ 43×4 topics
  17. Shale Gas5▲ 49×2 topics
  18. Atmospheric5▲ 121×1 topic
  19. Methane5▲ 121×1 topic
  20. Carbon Footprint5▲ 73×3 topics
  21. Embodied Energy4▲ 81×1 topic
  22. Water Footprint4▲ 81×1 topic
  23. Urbanization4▲ 10×3 topics
  24. Health Effects4▲ 6.7×3 topics
  25. Ocean Circulation3▲ 26×3 topics
  26. Vulnerability3▲ 15×7 topics
  27. Hydrological Cycle3▲ 35×2 topics
  28. Policy3▲ 16×2 topics
  29. Air Quality3▲ 18×5 topics
  30. Nexus3▲ 106×1 topic
  31. Resource Management3▲ 20×2 topics
  32. Water3▲ 61×1 topic
  33. Biodiversity Conservation3▲ 8.8×5 topics
  34. Climate Modeling3▲ 43×1 topic
  35. Extreme Events3▲ 36×2 topics
  36. Precipitation Extremes3▲ 43×1 topic
  37. Water Resources3▲ 13×6 topics
  38. Consumption3▲ 51×1 topic
  39. Household Behavior3▲ 31×2 topics
  40. Rebound Effect3▲ 51×1 topic

Which research topics does Pacific Northwest National Laboratory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Climate Change Policy and Economics, Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics, Environmental Impact and Sustainability and Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies.

Climate Change Policy and Economics: 6 fractional worksAtmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 5 fractional worksEnvironmental Impact and…4Environmental Impact and Sustainability: 4 fractional worksWater-Energy-Food Nexus …3Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies: 3 fractional worksClimate variability and models: 3 fractional worksEnergy, Environment, and Transportation Policies: 3 fractional worksGlobal Energy and Sustai…2Global Energy and Sustainability Research: 2 fractional worksAgriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact: 2 fractional worksWater resources management and optimization: 2 fractional worksAir Quality and Health Impacts: 2 fractional works
Economics and EconometricsGlobal and Planetary ChangeEnvironmental EngineeringWater Science and Technology4 others

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

  1. 1 Climate Change Policy and Economics Economics and Econometrics 6 works
  2. 2 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 5 works
  3. 3 Environmental Impact and Sustainability Environmental Engineering 4 works
  4. 4 Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies Water Science and Technology 3 works
  5. 5 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 3 works
  6. 6 Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment 3 works
  7. 7 Global Energy and Sustainability Research Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment 2 works
  8. 8 Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact Ecology 2 works
  9. 9 Water resources management and optimization Ocean Engineering 2 works
  10. 10 Air Quality and Health Impacts Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 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 available86.5%not open13.5%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors5.1%domestic only94.9%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 38% 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 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00039% in 2024.

still counting0.00050%0.0010%Pacific Northwest National Laboratory0.00033% in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 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.

20%40%Pacific Northwest National Laboratory18.8% in 2024all institutions10.0% in 20242020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 34.9% in 2013.

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on Science Explorer

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