Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Nonprofit · Tucson · United States

Planetary Science Institute

In research, Planetary Science Institute stands highest in Earth and Planetary Sciences (#13 of 1,088 worldwide), Geophysics (#5 of 225 worldwide) and Astronomy and Astrophysics (#9 of 400 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Geophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Paleontology (Geophysics is 48.1× its share of world research).

psi.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#545
of 22,385 · #291 all time
Rank in United States
#136
of 3,332
Research works
10k
◆ 1% vs 2018-21
Citations
546k
52.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
14.2%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.25×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
46%
world 40%
International
35%
world 18%
Planetary Science Institute

What is Planetary Science Institute 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
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #13 of 1,088 14.8%537 #5
GeophysicsSubfield #5 of 225 15.9%255 #3
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #9 of 400 16.7%393 #4
Physical SciencesDomain #285 of 10,670 14.8%1,388 #128
Environmental ScienceField #108 of 3,334 14.3%198 #50
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #18 of 294 13.2%139 #9
Life SciencesDomain #568 of 6,403 14.4%82 #428
Physics and AstronomyField #154 of 1,417 16.6%428 #93
EngineeringField #734 of 5,901 12.0%132 #442
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #85 of 544 14.0%65 #23

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Planetary Science Institute 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 of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences#5 #13
  2. Geophysics#3 #5
  3. Astronomy and Astrophysics#4 #9
  4. Physical Sciences#128 #285
  5. Environmental Science#50 #108
  6. Atmospheric Science#9 #18
  7. Life Sciences#428 #568
  8. Physics and Astronomy#93 #154
  9. Engineering#442 #734
  10. Global and Planetary Change#23 #85
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does Planetary Science Institute work in?

In 2022-now, 90% of research at Planetary Science Institute is in Physical Sciences, 5% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Earth and Planetary Sciences (36%), Physics and Astronomy (27%), Environmental Science (13%). It does 2.3× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 1,704 fractional works · 89.6% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 680 fractional works · 35.7% of its workGeophysics: 320 fractional works · 16.8% of its workAtmospheric Science: 166 fractional works · 8.7% of its workPaleontology: 59 fractional works · 3.1% of its workOceanography: 53 fractional works · 2.8% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 36 fractional works · 1.9% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 29 fractional works · 1.5% of its workGeology: 18 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 506 fractional works · 26.6% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 460 fractional works · 24.2% of its workInstrumentation: 14 fractional works · 0.7% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 10 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 8 fractional works · 0.4% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 8 fractional works · 0.4% of its workRadiation: 5 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 252 fractional works · 13.2% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 78 fractional works · 4.1% of its workEcology: 59 fractional works · 3.1% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 30 fractional works · 1.6% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 29 fractional works · 1.5% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 18 fractional works · 0.9% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 12 fractional works · 0.6% of its workWater Science and Technology: 11 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPollution: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEngineering: 153 fractional works · 8.1% of its workAerospace Engineering: 33 fractional works · 1.7% of its workMechanics of Materials: 29 fractional works · 1.5% of its workOcean Engineering: 18 fractional works · 1.0% of its workMechanical Engineering: 17 fractional works · 0.9% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 13 fractional works · 0.7% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 10 fractional works · 0.5% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 10 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputational Mechanics: 10 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBuilding and Construction: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 9 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Science: 51 fractional works · 2.7% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 40 fractional works · 2.1% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 5 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 29 fractional works · 1.5% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 13 fractional works · 0.7% of its workBiomaterials: 8 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 9 fractional works · 0.5% of its workChemistry: 18 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSpectroscopy: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnergy: 8 fractional works · 0.4% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 7 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.0% of its workMathematics: 7 fractional works · 0.4% of its workChemical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 102 fractional works · 5.4% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 59 fractional works · 3.1% of its workMolecular Biology: 51 fractional works · 2.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 8 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 38 fractional works · 2.0% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 15 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPlant Science: 11 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSoil Science: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeuroscience: 3 fractional works · 0.2% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 65 fractional works · 3.4% of its workSocial Sciences: 36 fractional works · 1.9% of its workSociology and Political Science: 13 fractional works · 0.7% of its workAnthropology: 8 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEducation: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 11 fractional works · 0.6% of its workArts and Humanities: 9 fractional works · 0.5% of its workArcheology: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPsychology: 7 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 31 fractional works · 1.6% of its workMedicine: 24 fractional works · 1.2% of its workPhysiology: 5 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 14 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHealth Professions: 5 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNursing: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDentistry: 1 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKPlanetary ScienceInstitute1,903fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences5%Physical Sciences90%Health Sciences2%Social Sciences3%

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 26 fields, with their numbers
    1. Earth and Planetary Sciences68035.7%
    2. Physics and Astronomy50626.6%
    3. Environmental Science25213.2%
    4. Engineering1538.1%
    5. Computer Science512.7%
    6. Materials Science291.5%
    7. Chemistry180.9%
    8. Energy80.4%
    9. Mathematics70.4%
    10. Chemical Engineering10.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology593.1%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences382.0%
    3. Neuroscience30.2%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology10.1%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics10.0%
    1. Social Sciences361.9%
    2. Arts and Humanities90.5%
    3. Psychology70.4%
    4. Economics, Econometrics and Finance60.3%
    5. Decision Sciences40.2%
    6. Business, Management and Accounting20.1%
    1. Medicine241.2%
    2. Health Professions50.3%
    3. Nursing20.1%
    4. Dentistry10.0%
    5. Veterinary00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Planetary Science Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Geophysics takes 48.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. GeophysicsSubfield · 319.5 works48×
  2. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 460.0 works47×
  3. PaleontologySubfield · 58.9 works26×
  4. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 679.6 works23×
  5. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 166.1 works20×
  6. Geochemistry and PetrologySubfield · 35.8 works18×
  7. Earth-Surface ProcessesSubfield · 28.7 works13×
← 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: 0.42× its world share, 38 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.58× its world share, 59 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.09× its world share, 3 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.15× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.59× its world share, 18 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.35× its world share, 51 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 22.77× its world share, 680 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.45× its world share, 8 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.54× its world share, 153 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.67× its world share, 252 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.44× its world share, 29 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.30× its world share, 7 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 11.95× its world share, 506 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.07× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.10× its world share, 5 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.06× its world share, 24 worksMedicineNursing: 0.17× its world share, 2 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.17× its world share, 9 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.04× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.24× its world share, 4 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.15× its world share, 6 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.12× its world share, 7 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.15× its world share, 36 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 22.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences22.77×680 works
  2. Physics and Astronomy11.95×506 works
  3. Environmental Science2.67×252 works
  4. Chemistry0.59×18 works
  5. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.58×59 works
  6. Engineering0.54×153 works
  7. Energy0.45×8 works
  8. Materials Science0.44×29 works
  9. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.42×38 works
  10. Computer Science0.35×51 works
  11. Mathematics0.30×7 works
  12. Decision Sciences0.24×4 works
  13. Nursing0.17×2 works
  14. Arts and Humanities0.17×9 works
  15. Chemical Engineering0.15×1 works
  16. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.15×6 works
  17. Social Sciences0.15×36 works
  18. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.13×1 works
  19. Veterinary0.12×0 works
  20. Psychology0.12×7 works
  21. Health Professions0.10×5 works
  22. Neuroscience0.09×3 works
  23. Dentistry0.07×1 works
  24. Immunology and Microbiology0.06×1 works
  25. Medicine0.06×24 works
  26. Business, Management and Accounting0.04×2 works

Who are the top researchers at Planetary Science Institute?

Ranked on the quality score, Charles H. Langmuir, Orson L. Anderson and Jerry X. Mitrovica lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Planetary Science Institute.

  1. 1 Charles H. Langmuir United States · #44,827 worldwide 30k citations · 361 works
  2. 2 Orson L. Anderson United States · #51,884 worldwide 22k citations · 264 works
  3. 3 Jerry X. Mitrovica United States · #80,653 worldwide 32k citations · 572 works
  4. 4 Adam M. Dziewoński United States · #90,119 worldwide 41k citations · 254 works
  5. 5 Peter Huybers United States · #110,123 worldwide 15k citations · 358 works
  6. 6 Francis A. Macdonald United States · #115,108 worldwide 12k citations · 343 works
  7. 7 Paul Felix Hoffman United States · #121,923 worldwide 19k citations · 257 works
  8. 8 Barbara Grant United States · #179,295 worldwide 4.7k citations · 16 works
  9. 9 Göran Ekström United States · #185,863 worldwide 22k citations · 411 works
  10. 10 Ann Pearson United States · #193,940 worldwide 10k citations · 259 works
All ranked researchers at Planetary Science Institute

What are the most cited papers from Planetary Science Institute?

The most cited paper from Planetary Science Institute is "THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER (WISE): MISSION DESCRIPTION AND INITIAL ON-ORBIT PERFORMANCE" (EDWARD L. WRIGHT et al., 2010), with 8,163 citations. Next come "Radiative forcing by long‐lived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models" (6,167) and "Geologic Evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen" (6,097).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER (WISE): MISSION DESCRIPTION AND INITIAL ON-ORBIT PERFORMANCE EDWARD L. WRIGHT et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access 9 Nov 2010 8,163
2 Radiative forcing by long‐lived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models Michael J. Iacono, Jennifer S. Delamere, E. J. Mlawer et al. · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Jul 2008 6,167
3 Geologic Evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen An Yin, T. Mark Harrison · Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences Review May 2000 6,097
4 The Astropy Project : Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package* The Astropy Collaboration et al. · Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Open access136 authors 2022 5,044
5 Solar System Abundances and Condensation Temperatures of the Elements K. Lodders · The Astrophysical Journal Open access 10 Jul 2003 4,845
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Planetary Science Institute?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Plate Tectonics, Solar System Abundances, Terrestrial Planets, Tectonics, Mars, Martian Surface and Thermodynamic 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-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 Change255▲ 4.9×85 topics
  2. Plate Tectonics181▲ 63×3 topics
  3. Solar System Abundances147▲ 161×1 topic
  4. Terrestrial Planets147▲ 161×1 topic
  5. Tectonics123▲ 54×3 topics
  6. Mars112▲ 178×1 topic
  7. Martian Surface112▲ 178×1 topic
  8. Thermodynamic Modeling104▲ 48×4 topics
  9. Geochronology99▲ 75×1 topic
  10. Zircon99▲ 75×1 topic
  11. Tomography99▲ 29×4 topics
  12. Remote Sensing89▲ 3.8×34 topics
  13. Solar Wind83▲ 48×2 topics
  14. Holocene79▲ 37×3 topics
  15. Sea Level78▲ 44×2 topics
  16. Paleoclimatology76▲ 48×2 topics
  17. Subduction75▲ 53×3 topics
  18. Superconductivity75▲ 23×7 topics
  19. Crystal Structure Prediction74▲ 81×1 topic
  20. Mantle Dynamics74▲ 81×1 topic
  21. Geodetic Measurements74▲ 37×2 topics
  22. Solar Influence73▲ 55×2 topics
  23. Glacial Cycles73▲ 59×1 topic
  24. Monsoon Dynamics73▲ 59×1 topic
  25. Earthquakes67▲ 62×1 topic
  26. Plate Boundaries67▲ 62×1 topic
  27. Global Warming62▲ 7.7×13 topics
  28. Exoplanets44▲ 57×1 topic
  29. Stellar Astrophysics44▲ 57×1 topic
  30. Ocean Circulation42▲ 16×3 topics
  31. Electron Acceleration42▲ 33×2 topics
  32. Ionosphere42▲ 40×1 topic
  33. Magnetosphere42▲ 40×1 topic
  34. Marine Sediments42▲ 34×2 topics
  35. Coronal Mass Ejections41▲ 59×1 topic
  36. Solar Dynamics Observatory41▲ 59×1 topic
  37. Biogeochemical Cycling40▲ 55×2 topics
  38. Paleoproductivity40▲ 65×1 topic
  39. Paleoredox40▲ 65×1 topic
  40. Biomineralization39▲ 28×4 topics

Which research topics does Planetary Science Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Astro and Planetary Science, Planetary Science and Exploration, Geological and Geochemical Analysis and High-pressure geophysics and materials.

Astro and Planetary Science: 147 fractional worksPlanetary Science and Exploration: 112 fractional worksGeological and Geochemic…99Geological and Geochemical Analysis: 99 fractional worksHigh-pressure geophysics…74High-pressure geophysics and materials: 74 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 73 fractional worksearthquake and tectonic studies: 67 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and …44Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 44 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 42 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 41 fractional worksPaleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils: 40 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsGeophysicsAtmospheric SciencePaleontology

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

  1. 1 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 147 works
  2. 2 Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy and Astrophysics 112 works
  3. 3 Geological and Geochemical Analysis Geophysics 99 works
  4. 4 High-pressure geophysics and materials Geophysics 74 works
  5. 5 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 73 works
  6. 6 earthquake and tectonic studies Geophysics 67 works
  7. 7 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 44 works
  8. 8 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 42 works
  9. 9 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 41 works
  10. 10 Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils Paleontology 40 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 available46.1%not open53.9%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors34.9%domestic only65.1%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Planetary Science Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% 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 Planetary Science Institute as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0067% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Planetary Science Institute0.0083% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Planetary Science Institute 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 counting20%40%Planetary Science Institute12.6% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 30.6% in 1998.

Other research institutions in Tucson

All research institutions in Tucson

Compare Planetary Science Institute with

Compare any two

Share Planetary Science Institute's ranking

Planetary Science Institute on Science Explorer

A card with Planetary Science Institute's standing and the fields it leads in, for a post or a slide. A link to this page previews as the same card.

Download the card

1200 × 630 PNG, sized for social posts, drawn from the latest snapshot.

Badges for a website3Each links back here and updates with every snapshot

Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where Planetary Science Institute is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

Overall

Subfields

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners have tabs of their own, above.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Planetary Science Institute. Posts are plain text and can be reported.