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Nonprofit · Burlingame · United States

Sphere Institute

In research, Sphere Institute stands highest in Physical Sciences (#7,199 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Earth and Planetary Sciences — Earth and Planetary Sciences is 13.2× its share of world research.

sphereinstitute.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#11,637
of 28,054 · #8,190 all time
Rank in United States
#1,583
of 4,192
Research works
1k
▼ 14% vs 2013–17
Citations
15k
14.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
40%
world 28%

What is Sphere Institute known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #7,199 of 12,888 16.3%79 #5230

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 world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

What does Sphere Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Earth and Planetary Sciences takes 13.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 24.4 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: 1.92× its world share, 11 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.03× its world share, 6 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.29× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.33× its world share, 1 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.31× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.65× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 13.25× its world share, 24 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.54× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.39× its world share, 7 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 7.26× its world share, 42 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.38× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.28× its world share, 1 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.65× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.21× its world share, 5 worksMedicineNursing: 0.29× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 1.03× its world share, 4 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.26× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.01× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.55× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.36× its world share, 5 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 13.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Sphere Institute?

Ranked on the composite score, Akira Oka and Ryouta O’ishi lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Sphere Institute.

  1. 1 Akira Oka United States · #1,393,380 worldwide 18 citations · 29 works
  2. 2 Ryouta O’ishi United States · #1,527,234 worldwide 8 citations · 22 works
All ranked researchers at Sphere Institute

Which keywords describe research at Sphere Institute?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, 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 Water Resources.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 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 Change32▲ 10×56 topics
  2. Global Warming9▲ 18×11 topics
  3. Remote Sensing8▲ 5.5×15 topics
  4. Data Assimilation6▲ 35×4 topics
  5. Ocean Circulation6▲ 39×3 topics
  6. Hydrological Modeling6▲ 20×5 topics
  7. Hydrological Cycle5▲ 42×2 topics
  8. Water Resources4▲ 16×9 topics
  9. Greenhouse Gas Emissions4▲ 13×4 topics
  10. Ecosystem Functioning4▲ 18×7 topics
  11. Extreme Events4▲ 40×2 topics
  12. Microbial Communities4▲ 7.8×5 topics
  13. Climate Modeling4▲ 46×1 topic
  14. Ecosystem Resilience4▲ 22×5 topics
  15. Precipitation Extremes4▲ 46×1 topic
  16. Satellite Observations4▲ 32×3 topics
  17. Nutrient Limitation3▲ 28×2 topics
  18. Sea Level Rise3▲ 22×3 topics
  19. Boundary Layer3▲ 22×2 topics
  20. Ensemble Kalman Filter3▲ 27×2 topics
  21. Fisheries Sustainability3▲ 31×2 topics
  22. Convective Parameterization3▲ 48×1 topic
  23. Land Use Change3▲ 8.8×4 topics
  24. Mesoscale Modeling3▲ 48×1 topic
  25. Tropical Cyclones3▲ 48×2 topics
  26. Sediment Transport3▲ 14×4 topics
  27. Validation3▲ 25×2 topics
  28. Ocean Acidification2▲ 29×3 topics
  29. Drought2▲ 22×3 topics
  30. Ecosystem Management2▲ 32×1 topic
  31. Evapotranspiration2▲ 25×2 topics
  32. Hydrology2▲ 16×4 topics
  33. Marine Fisheries2▲ 47×1 topic
  34. Model Evaluation2▲ 16×2 topics
  35. Soil Carbon Sequestration2▲ 26×2 topics
  36. Soil Fertility2▲ 8.7×3 topics
  37. Soil Moisture2▲ 27×2 topics
  38. Global Hydrology2▲ 29×1 topic
  39. Uncertainty Assessment2▲ 29×1 topic
  40. Hurricanes2▲ 56×1 topic

Which research topics does Sphere Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Climate variability and models, Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations, Marine and fisheries research and Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies.

Climate variability and …4Climate variability and models: 4 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena…3Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 3 fractional worksMarine and fisheries research: 2 fractional worksHydrology and Watershed Management Studies: 2 fractional worksPlant Water Relations an…2Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics: 2 fractional worksSoil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics: 2 fractional worksTropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research: 2 fractional worksSoil Moisture and Remote…2Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing: 2 fractional worksIsotope Analysis in Ecology: 2 fractional worksCoral and Marine Ecosystems Studies: 2 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric ScienceWater Science and TechnologySoil Science2 others

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

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

World: 28% of research is openly available.

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

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Sphere Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 14% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Burlingame

All research institutions in Burlingame

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.