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Nonprofit · San Antonio · United States

Southwest Research Institute

In research, Southwest Research Institute stands highest in Physical Sciences (#1,033 of 10,670 worldwide), Astronomy and Astrophysics (#76 of 400 worldwide) and Engineering (#2,159 of 5,901 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics and Astronomy and Chemical Engineering (Astronomy and Astrophysics is 57.8× its share of world research).

swri.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#2,348
of 22,385 · #1,314 all time
Rank in United States
#413
of 3,332
Research works
8.1k
▼ 18% vs 2018-21
Citations
172k
21.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
8.3%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.93×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
22%
world 40%
International
14%
world 18%
Southwest Research Institute

What is Southwest Research 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
Physical SciencesDomain #1,033 of 10,670 7.6%620 #848
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #76 of 400 14.8%200 #64
EngineeringField #2,159 of 5,901 2.6%242 #622
Physics and AstronomyField #753 of 1,417 14.3%215 #681

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Southwest Research 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. Physical Sciences#848 #1,033
  2. Astronomy and Astrophysics#64 #76
  3. Engineering#622 #2,159
  4. Physics and Astronomy#681 #753
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 Southwest Research Institute work in?

In 2022-now, 91% of research at Southwest Research Institute is in Physical Sciences, 3% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (35%), Physics and Astronomy (32%), Earth and Planetary Sciences (6%). It does 2.3× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 692 fractional works · 91.3% of its workEngineering: 268 fractional works · 35.3% of its workMechanical Engineering: 53 fractional works · 7.0% of its workAerospace Engineering: 45 fractional works · 6.0% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 34 fractional works · 4.5% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 32 fractional works · 4.2% of its workMechanics of Materials: 21 fractional works · 2.7% of its workComputational Mechanics: 19 fractional works · 2.5% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 18 fractional works · 2.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 16 fractional works · 2.1% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 11 fractional works · 1.4% of its workOcean Engineering: 10 fractional works · 1.3% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 246 fractional works · 32.5% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 228 fractional works · 30.0% of its workInstrumentation: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workRadiation: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 44 fractional works · 5.8% of its workGeophysics: 16 fractional works · 2.1% of its workAtmospheric Science: 14 fractional works · 1.8% of its workOceanography: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workGeology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPaleontology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Science: 41 fractional works · 5.4% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 20 fractional works · 2.7% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 7 fractional works · 1.0% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHardware and Architecture: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workMaterials Science: 29 fractional works · 3.8% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 23 fractional works · 3.1% of its workMetals and Alloys: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEnvironmental Science: 28 fractional works · 3.7% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEcology: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workWater Science and Technology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPollution: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemical Engineering: 21 fractional works · 2.8% of its workFluid Flow and Transfer Processes: 18 fractional works · 2.4% of its workCatalysis: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workEnergy: 8 fractional works · 1.0% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEnergy Engineering and Power Technology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workChemistry: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSpectroscopy: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workApplied Mathematics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 25 fractional works · 3.3% of its workSocial Sciences: 10 fractional works · 1.3% of its workSociology and Political Science: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 7 fractional works · 0.9% of its workDecision Sciences: 9 fractional works · 1.1% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workPsychology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workLife Sciences: 21 fractional works · 2.8% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 17 fractional works · 2.3% of its workMolecular Biology: 15 fractional works · 1.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeuroscience: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 19 fractional works · 2.6% of its workMedicine: 15 fractional works · 2.0% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workHealth Professions: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNursing: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workVeterinary: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKSouthwestResearch…758fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences3%Physical Sciences91%Health Sciences3%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. Engineering26835.3%
    2. Physics and Astronomy24632.5%
    3. Earth and Planetary Sciences445.8%
    4. Computer Science415.4%
    5. Materials Science293.8%
    6. Environmental Science283.7%
    7. Chemical Engineering212.8%
    8. Energy81.0%
    9. Chemistry40.6%
    10. Mathematics20.3%
    1. Social Sciences101.3%
    2. Decision Sciences91.1%
    3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance20.3%
    4. Psychology20.3%
    5. Arts and Humanities10.2%
    6. Business, Management and Accounting10.2%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology172.3%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences20.3%
    3. Neuroscience10.2%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
    5. Immunology and Microbiology00.0%
    1. Medicine152.0%
    2. Health Professions30.4%
    3. Nursing10.1%
    4. Dentistry00.0%
    5. Veterinary00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Southwest Research Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 57.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 227.6 works58×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 246.0 works15×
  3. Chemical EngineeringField · 21.3 works8.0×
  4. Automotive EngineeringSubfield · 32.0 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: 0.07× its world share, 2 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.43× its world share, 17 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.11× its world share, 1 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 8.04× its world share, 21 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.38× its world share, 4 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.70× its world share, 41 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.70× its world share, 44 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.12× its world share, 8 worksEnergyEngineering: 2.36× its world share, 268 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.75× its world share, 28 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.09× its world share, 29 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.28× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 14.60× its world share, 246 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.14× its world share, 3 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.10× its world share, 15 worksMedicineNursing: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.32× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.17× its world share, 9 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.12× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.09× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.10× its world share, 10 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 14.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy14.60×246 works
  2. Chemical Engineering8.04×21 works
  3. Earth and Planetary Sciences3.70×44 works
  4. Engineering2.36×268 works
  5. Decision Sciences1.17×9 works
  6. Energy1.12×8 works
  7. Materials Science1.09×29 works
  8. Environmental Science0.75×28 works
  9. Computer Science0.70×41 works
  10. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.43×17 works
  11. Chemistry0.38×4 works
  12. Veterinary0.32×0 works
  13. Mathematics0.28×2 works
  14. Nursing0.24×1 works
  15. Health Professions0.14×3 works
  16. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.12×2 works
  17. Neuroscience0.11×1 works
  18. Medicine0.10×15 works
  19. Social Sciences0.10×10 works
  20. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.09×0 works
  21. Dentistry0.09×0 works
  22. Psychology0.09×2 works
  23. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.07×2 works
  24. Arts and Humanities0.06×1 works
  25. Business, Management and Accounting0.05×1 works
  26. Immunology and Microbiology0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Southwest Research Institute?

Ranked on the quality score, Gerald E. Weigle, David Camann and W. F. Bottke lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Southwest Research Institute.

  1. 1 Gerald E. Weigle United States · #76,278 worldwide 7k citations · 44 works
  2. 2 David Camann United States · #96,181 worldwide 14k citations · 136 works
  3. 3 W. F. Bottke United States · #110,117 worldwide 25k citations · 623 works
  4. 4 Christopher R. Glein United States · #158,465 worldwide 5.3k citations · 187 works
  5. 5 David Nesvorný United States · #163,849 worldwide 20k citations · 602 works
  6. 6 S. E. Weidner United States · #221,489 worldwide 4.5k citations · 57 works
  7. 7 Harold F. Levison United States · #294,701 worldwide 20k citations · 378 works
  8. 8 David J. McComas United States · #309,024 worldwide 49k citations · 1,613 works
  9. 9 William R. Ward United States · #315,342 worldwide 8.8k citations · 125 works
  10. 10 G. Livadiotis United States · #329,751 worldwide 7.9k citations · 302 works
All ranked researchers at Southwest Research Institute

What are the most cited papers from Southwest Research Institute?

The most cited paper from Southwest Research Institute is "The Gaia mission" (T. Prusti et al., 2016), with 7,118 citations. Next come "The Astropy Project : Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package*" (5,044) and "Theory of Elasticity (3rd ed.)" (4,036).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Gaia mission T. Prusti et al. · Astronomy and Astrophysics Open access625 authors 15 Sep 2016 7,118
2 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
3 Theory of Elasticity (3rd ed.) Stephen P. Timoshenko, J. N. Goodier, Hanley N. Abramson · Journal of Applied Mechanics Sep 1970 4,036
4 The USNO-B Catalog David G. Monet et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access Feb 2003 2,139
5 Gaia Data Release 1 A. G. A. Brown et al. · Astronomy and Astrophysics Open access591 authors 15 Sep 2016 2,113
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Southwest Research Institute?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Solar Wind, Solar System Abundances, Terrestrial Planets, Mars, Martian Surface, Coronal Mass Ejections, Solar Dynamics Observatory and Electron Acceleration.

▲ 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. Solar Wind72▲ 104×2 topics
  2. Solar System Abundances68▲ 185×1 topic
  3. Terrestrial Planets68▲ 185×1 topic
  4. Mars44▲ 174×1 topic
  5. Martian Surface44▲ 174×1 topic
  6. Coronal Mass Ejections41▲ 148×1 topic
  7. Solar Dynamics Observatory41▲ 148×1 topic
  8. Electron Acceleration31▲ 62×2 topics
  9. Ionosphere31▲ 75×1 topic
  10. Magnetosphere31▲ 75×1 topic
  11. Emissions27▲ 18×4 topics
  12. Chemical Kinetics26▲ 37×2 topics
  13. Renewable Energy24▲ 2.2×19 topics
  14. Nanoparticles21▲ 2.2×14 topics
  15. Combustion19▲ 41×3 topics
  16. Heat Transfer19▲ 5.0×15 topics
  17. Exoplanets18▲ 61×1 topic
  18. Internal Combustion Engines18▲ 54×1 topic
  19. Soot Formation18▲ 54×1 topic
  20. Stellar Astrophysics18▲ 61×1 topic
  21. Energy Storage15▲ 3.0×5 topics
  22. CO2 Emissions14▲ 10×2 topics
  23. Eco-Driving14▲ 37×1 topic
  24. Fuel Consumption14▲ 25×1 topic
  25. Geomagnetic Field13▲ 77×1 topic
  26. Magnetosome Formation13▲ 77×1 topic
  27. Electric Vehicles13▲ 6.0×4 topics
  28. Thermodynamic Analysis13▲ 27×3 topics
  29. Lithium-ion Batteries12▲ 3.9×3 topics
  30. Turbulence12▲ 17×4 topics
  31. Large-Eddy Simulation12▲ 8.2×5 topics
  32. Combustion Instabilities11▲ 24×2 topics
  33. Thermodynamic Modeling11▲ 13×2 topics
  34. Ceria11▲ 12×1 topic
  35. Oxidation11▲ 9.2×1 topic
  36. Magnetic Fields10▲ 21×3 topics
  37. Accretion Disks9▲ 25×2 topics
  38. Star Formation9▲ 21×2 topics
  39. Molecular Clouds9▲ 43×1 topic
  40. Protoplanetary Disks9▲ 43×1 topic

Which research topics does Southwest Research Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Astro and Planetary Science, Planetary Science and Exploration, Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics and Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics.

Astro and Planetary Scie…68Astro and Planetary Science: 68 fractional worksPlanetary Science and Exploration: 44 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 41 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 31 fractional worksAdvanced Combustion Engine Technologies: 18 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and …18Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 18 fractional worksVehicle emissions and performance: 14 fractional worksGeomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies: 13 fractional worksCatalytic Processes in Materials Science: 11 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 9 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsFluid Flow and Transfer ProcessesAutomotive EngineeringMolecular Biology1 others

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

  1. 1 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 68 works
  2. 2 Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy and Astrophysics 44 works
  3. 3 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 41 works
  4. 4 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 31 works
  5. 5 Advanced Combustion Engine Technologies Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes 18 works
  6. 6 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 18 works
  7. 7 Vehicle emissions and performance Automotive Engineering 14 works
  8. 8 Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies Molecular Biology 13 works
  9. 9 Catalytic Processes in Materials Science Materials Chemistry 11 works
  10. 10 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 9 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 available21.9%not open78.1%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors14.5%domestic only85.5%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Southwest Research Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 18% 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 Southwest Research Institute as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0027% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Southwest Research Institute0.0027% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Southwest Research 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 counting5%10%15%all institutions10.0% in 2025Southwest Research Institute8.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 15.0% in 2001.

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Southwest Research Institute on Science Explorer

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

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Domains

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