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Nonprofit · Burlingame · United States

Sphere Institute

In research, Sphere Institute stands highest in Physical Sciences (#9,636 of 10,670 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Global and Planetary Change and Earth and Planetary Sciences (Global and Planetary Change is 15.3× its share of world research).

sphereinstitute.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#16,160
of 22,385 · #21,805 all time
Rank in United States
#2,336
of 3,332
Research works
1k
▼ 59% vs 2018-21
Citations
15k
14.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
7.5%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.96×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
40%
world 40%
International
43%
world 18%
Sphere Institute

What is Sphere 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 #9,636 of 10,670 6.7%79 #14604

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Sphere 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 fields of science does Sphere Institute work in?

In 2022-now, 69% of research at Sphere Institute is in Physical Sciences, 15% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Environmental Science (34%), Earth and Planetary Sciences (21%), Agricultural and Biological Sciences (9%). It does 1.7× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 120 fractional works · 69.2% of its workEnvironmental Science: 58 fractional works · 33.7% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 20 fractional works · 11.6% of its workEcology: 13 fractional works · 7.4% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 7 fractional works · 4.2% of its workWater Science and Technology: 4 fractional works · 2.5% of its workPollution: 4 fractional works · 2.1% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 3 fractional works · 1.8% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 2 fractional works · 1.4% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 37 fractional works · 21.2% of its workAtmospheric Science: 16 fractional works · 9.2% of its workOceanography: 10 fractional works · 5.6% of its workGeophysics: 5 fractional works · 2.8% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workPaleontology: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workGeology: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEngineering: 11 fractional works · 6.6% of its workOcean Engineering: 2 fractional works · 1.4% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workBuilding and Construction: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workAerospace Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMechanical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMechanics of Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 3 fractional works · 2.0% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workComputer Science: 3 fractional works · 1.9% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workBiomaterials: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemistry: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSpectroscopy: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEnergy: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workTheoretical Computer Science: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 25 fractional works · 14.5% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 15 fractional works · 8.9% of its workPlant Science: 6 fractional works · 3.2% of its workSoil Science: 5 fractional works · 3.0% of its workAgronomy and Crop Science: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workAquatic Science: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 9 fractional works · 5.0% of its workMolecular Biology: 6 fractional works · 3.5% of its workGenetics: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPhysiology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workNeuroscience: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 18 fractional works · 10.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 6 fractional works · 3.6% of its workSociology and Political Science: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workUrban Studies: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEducation: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workGender Studies: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workArts and Humanities: 5 fractional works · 3.0% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDecision Sciences: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPsychology: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workClinical Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth Sciences: 11 fractional works · 6.1% of its workMedicine: 8 fractional works · 4.7% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPhysiology: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workReproductive Medicine: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSurgery: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInfectious Diseases: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workHealth Professions: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKSphere Institute173fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences15%Physical Sciences69%Health Sciences6%Social Sciences10%

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 23 fields, with their numbers
    1. Environmental Science5833.7%
    2. Earth and Planetary Sciences3721.2%
    3. Engineering116.6%
    4. Physics and Astronomy32.0%
    5. Computer Science31.9%
    6. Materials Science21.1%
    7. Chemistry21.0%
    8. Energy10.8%
    9. Mathematics10.7%
    10. Chemical Engineering00.1%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences158.9%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology95.0%
    3. Neuroscience10.4%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology00.2%
    1. Social Sciences63.6%
    2. Arts and Humanities53.0%
    3. Decision Sciences21.2%
    4. Psychology21.2%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting10.8%
    6. Economics, Econometrics and Finance10.4%
    1. Medicine84.7%
    2. Health Professions21.3%
    3. Nursing00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Sphere Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Global and Planetary Change takes 15.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 20.1 works15×
  2. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 36.7 works14×
← 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: 1.87× its world share, 15 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.94× its world share, 9 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.25× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.23× its world share, 1 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.36× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.66× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.25× its world share, 3 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 13.51× its world share, 37 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.88× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.44× its world share, 11 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 6.79× its world share, 58 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.32× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.59× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.91× its world share, 4 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.50× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.24× its world share, 8 worksMedicineNursing: 0.25× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 1.04× its world share, 5 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.28× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.17× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.38× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.28× its world share, 6 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 13.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 23 fields, with their numbers
  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences13.51×37 works
  2. Environmental Science6.79×58 works
  3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences1.87×15 works
  4. Decision Sciences1.28×2 works
  5. Arts and Humanities1.04×5 works
  6. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.94×9 works
  7. Physics and Astronomy0.91×4 works
  8. Energy0.88×1 works
  9. Chemistry0.66×2 works
  10. Mathematics0.59×1 works
  11. Health Professions0.50×2 works
  12. Engineering0.44×11 works
  13. Psychology0.38×2 works
  14. Chemical Engineering0.36×0 works
  15. Materials Science0.32×2 works
  16. Social Sciences0.28×6 works
  17. Immunology and Microbiology0.25×0 works
  18. Computer Science0.25×3 works
  19. Nursing0.25×0 works
  20. Medicine0.24×8 works
  21. Business, Management and Accounting0.24×1 works
  22. Neuroscience0.23×1 works
  23. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.17×1 works

Who are the top researchers at Sphere Institute?

Ranked on the quality score, Robert C. Getts, Richard Heede and Jessica Bowers lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Sphere Institute.

  1. 1 Robert C. Getts United States · #336,703 worldwide 3.6k citations · 94 works
  2. 2 Richard Heede United States · #449,257 worldwide 1.9k citations · 24 works
  3. 3 Jessica Bowers United States · #2,336,842 worldwide 1.7k citations · 35 works
  4. 4 A. Alling United States · #4,591,395 worldwide 848 citations · 45 works
  5. 5 Abe‐Ouchi Ayako United States · #5,366,970 worldwide 1 citations · 29 works
  6. 6 J. P. Allen United States · #5,386,901 worldwide 270 citations · 18 works
  7. 7 Enrico Kränzlin United States · #5,410,972 worldwide 0 citations · 30 works
  8. 8 Marco Kränzlin United States · #5,446,256 worldwide 0 citations · 28 works
  9. 9 Masahiro OGAWA United States · #5,509,398 worldwide 0 citations · 16 works
  10. 10 Mark Van Thillo United States · #5,783,101 worldwide 185 citations · 20 works
All ranked researchers at Sphere Institute

What are the most cited papers from Sphere Institute?

The most cited paper from Sphere Institute is "DECLINING MOUNTAIN SNOWPACK IN WESTERN NORTH AMERICA*" (Philip W. Mote, Alan F. Hamlet, Martyn Clark et al., 2005), with 1,541 citations. Next come "Eliassen-Palm Cross Sections for the Troposphere" (993) and "Tracing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions to fossil fuel and cement producers, 1854–2010" (822).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 DECLINING MOUNTAIN SNOWPACK IN WESTERN NORTH AMERICA* Philip W. Mote, Alan F. Hamlet, Martyn Clark et al. · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open access 2005 1,541
2 Eliassen-Palm Cross Sections for the Troposphere Harold J. Edmon, Brian John Hoskins, Michael Edgeworth McIntyre · Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences Open access Dec 1980 993
3 Tracing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions to fossil fuel and cement producers, 1854–2010 Richard Heede · Climatic Change Open access 21 Nov 2013 822
4 Towards a global-scale soil climate mitigation strategy Wulf Amelung, Déborah Bossio, W. de Vries et al. · Nature Communications Open access 27 Oct 2020 798
5 DC Resistivity and Induced Polarization Methods Andrew M. Binley, Andreas Kemna · Water science and technology library Book chapter 22 Aug 2005 782
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Sphere Institute?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Global Warming, Remote Sensing, Data Assimilation, Ocean Circulation, Hydrological Modeling, Hydrological Cycle 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-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 Change46▲ 9.8×59 topics
  2. Global Warming13▲ 18×11 topics
  3. Remote Sensing13▲ 6.1×16 topics
  4. Data Assimilation10▲ 37×4 topics
  5. Ocean Circulation10▲ 40×3 topics
  6. Hydrological Modeling9▲ 21×5 topics
  7. Hydrological Cycle7▲ 40×2 topics
  8. Greenhouse Gas Emissions7▲ 14×5 topics
  9. Nutrient Limitation6▲ 33×2 topics
  10. Ecosystem Functioning6▲ 17×7 topics
  11. Extreme Events6▲ 37×2 topics
  12. Microbial Communities6▲ 7.7×5 topics
  13. Satellite Observations6▲ 33×3 topics
  14. Climate Modeling6▲ 44×1 topic
  15. Precipitation Extremes6▲ 44×1 topic
  16. Water Resources5▲ 12×9 topics
  17. Ecosystem Resilience5▲ 19×5 topics
  18. Sea Level Rise5▲ 22×3 topics
  19. Boundary Layer4▲ 20×2 topics
  20. Validation4▲ 29×2 topics
  21. Ensemble Kalman Filter4▲ 24×2 topics
  22. Eutrophication4▲ 22×4 topics
  23. Convective Parameterization4▲ 42×1 topic
  24. Mesoscale Modeling4▲ 42×1 topic
  25. Land Use Change4▲ 7.9×4 topics
  26. Soil Carbon Sequestration4▲ 29×2 topics
  27. Soil Fertility4▲ 10×4 topics
  28. Soil Moisture4▲ 30×2 topics
  29. Fisheries Sustainability4▲ 26×2 topics
  30. Biochar Application4▲ 21×1 topic
  31. Drought4▲ 22×3 topics
  32. Nitrogen Cycle4▲ 32×1 topic
  33. Tropical Cyclones4▲ 37×2 topics
  34. Evapotranspiration4▲ 25×2 topics
  35. Hydrology4▲ 16×4 topics
  36. Global Monitoring3▲ 75×1 topic
  37. Microwave Retrieval3▲ 75×1 topic
  38. Sediment Transport3▲ 12×4 topics
  39. Carbon Balance3▲ 38×1 topic
  40. Tree Mortality3▲ 38×1 topic

Which research topics does Sphere Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Climate variability and models, Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations, Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics and Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing.

Climate variability and …6Climate variability and models: 6 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena…4Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 4 fractional worksSoil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics: 4 fractional worksSoil Moisture and Remote Sensing: 3 fractional worksPlant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics: 3 fractional worksHydrology and Watershed Management Studies: 3 fractional worksOceanographic and Atmospheric Processes: 3 fractional worksMarine and coastal ecosy…3Marine and coastal ecosystems: 3 fractional worksTropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research: 3 fractional worksMarine and fisheries research: 3 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric ScienceSoil ScienceEnvironmental Engineering2 others

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

  1. 1 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 6 works
  2. 2 Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations Atmospheric Science 4 works
  3. 3 Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Soil Science 4 works
  4. 4 Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing Environmental Engineering 3 works
  5. 5 Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 3 works
  6. 6 Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies Water Science and Technology 3 works
  7. 7 Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes Oceanography 3 works
  8. 8 Marine and coastal ecosystems Oceanography 3 works
  9. 9 Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research Atmospheric Science 3 works
  10. 10 Marine and fisheries research Global and Planetary Change 3 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 available40.5%not open59.5%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors43.2%domestic only56.8%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Sphere Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 59% 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 Sphere Institute as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00045% in 2024.

still counting0.0010%0.0020%0.0030%Sphere Institute0.00083% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Sphere 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 2025Sphere Institute6.4% in 20252020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 11.8% in 2013.

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