Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Government institution · Reston · United States

United States Geological Survey

In research, United States Geological Survey stands highest in Environmental Science (#88 of 3,551 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#743 of 12,888 worldwide) and Geophysics (#14 of 237 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Geochemistry and Petrology, Geophysics and Earth-Surface Processes — Geochemistry and Petrology is 32.3× its share of world research.

usgs.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,147
of 28,054 · #255 all time
Rank in United States
#194
of 4,192
Research works
41k
▼ 13% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.7M
41.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
30%
world 28%

What is United States Geological Survey 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
Environmental ScienceField #88 of 3,551 18.4%1,372 #8
Physical SciencesDomain #743 of 12,888 17.4%2,745 #179
GeophysicsSubfield #14 of 237 24.1%321 #1
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #73 of 1,209 17.8%845 #6
EcologySubfield #44 of 578 17.5%433 #12
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #80 of 535 22.3%232 #17
Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield #13 of 72 19.0%166 #20
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #77 of 301 16.6%165 #12
Management, Monitoring, Policy and LawSubfield #85 of 324 26.4%68 #2
Social SciencesDomain #3,052 of 10,521 18.3%149 #935

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where United States Geological Survey 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).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Environmental Science#8 #88
  2. Physical Sciences#179 #743
  3. Geophysics#1 #14
  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences#6 #73
  5. Ecology#12 #44
  6. Global and Planetary Change#17 #80
  7. Nature and Landscape Conservation#20 #13
  8. Atmospheric Science#12 #77
  9. Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law#2 #85
  10. Social Sciences#935 #3,052
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

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

What does United States Geological Survey specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Geochemistry and Petrology takes 32.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Geochemistry and PetrologySubfield · 106.2 works32×
  2. GeophysicsSubfield · 320.9 works28×
  3. Earth-Surface ProcessesSubfield · 95.0 works25×
  4. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 166.3 works22×
  5. Ecological ModelingSubfield · 50.0 works20×
  6. EcologySubfield · 433.3 works17×
  7. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 844.7 works17×
  8. GeologySubfield · 59.3 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: 1.09× its world share, 167 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.47× its world share, 81 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.63× its world share, 20 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.06× its world share, 3 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.16× its world share, 2 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.19× its world share, 2 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.47× its world share, 24 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.71× its world share, 178 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 16.68× its world share, 845 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.42× its world share, 12 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.54× its world share, 263 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 8.55× its world share, 1,372 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.15× its world share, 17 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.18× its world share, 7 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.36× its world share, 26 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.15× its world share, 13 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.06× its world share, 38 worksMedicineNursing: 0.14× its world share, 2 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.72× its world share, 8 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.18× its world share, 17 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.03× its world share, 3 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.40× its world share, 12 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.21× its world share, 14 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.13× its world share, 12 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.22× its world share, 90 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 16.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at United States Geological Survey?

Ranked on the composite score, James D. Nichols, Jon E. Keeley and David M. Boore lead among researchers whose main affiliation is United States Geological Survey.

  1. 1 James D. Nichols United States · #3,015 worldwide 1.6k citations · 90 works
  2. 2 Jon E. Keeley United States · #5,433 worldwide 1.7k citations · 89 works
  3. 3 David M. Boore United States · #6,126 worldwide 1.5k citations · 60 works
  4. 4 Dana W. Kolpin United States · #8,978 worldwide 1.3k citations · 52 works
  5. 5 E. Michael Thurman United States · #9,484 worldwide 1.4k citations · 51 works
  6. 6 J. Andrew Royle United States · #10,965 worldwide 965 citations · 54 works
  7. 7 Thomas R. Loveland United States · #13,684 worldwide 2.1k citations · 44 works
  8. 8 Gregg A. Swayze United States · #14,199 worldwide 796 citations · 49 works
  9. 9 Michael E. Field United States · #15,307 worldwide 827 citations · 54 works
  10. 10 James E. Cloern United States · #15,994 worldwide 892 citations · 53 works
All ranked researchers at United States Geological Survey

Which keywords describe research at United States Geological Survey?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Remote Sensing, Invasive Species, Biodiversity, Habitat Fragmentation, Tectonics, Conservation and Water Quality.

▲ 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 Change885▲ 10×89 topics
  2. Remote Sensing364▲ 9.1×31 topics
  3. Invasive Species272▲ 20×19 topics
  4. Machine Learning212▲ 2.0×39 topics
  5. Biodiversity212▲ 8.8×31 topics
  6. Habitat Fragmentation170▲ 24×5 topics
  7. Tectonics169▲ 44×3 topics
  8. Conservation165▲ 12×21 topics
  9. Water Quality162▲ 13×14 topics
  10. Sediment Transport161▲ 31×6 topics
  11. Geological Mapping152▲ 57×2 topics
  12. Population Dynamics148▲ 18×13 topics
  13. Plate Tectonics133▲ 27×3 topics
  14. Fisheries Sustainability131▲ 46×2 topics
  15. Support Vector Machines122▲ 12×4 topics
  16. Model Evaluation116▲ 29×2 topics
  17. Holocene114▲ 31×3 topics
  18. Freshwater Biodiversity114▲ 58×2 topics
  19. Hyperspectral Imaging112▲ 12×6 topics
  20. Sea Level108▲ 35×2 topics
  21. Compositional Data Analysis107▲ 49×1 topic
  22. Mineral Prospectivity107▲ 49×1 topic
  23. Paleoclimatology104▲ 39×2 topics
  24. Ecosystem Services104▲ 8.3×11 topics
  25. Land Use Change103▲ 10×7 topics
  26. Conservation Challenges102▲ 66×1 topic
  27. Flow Regulation102▲ 66×1 topic
  28. Hydrological Modeling102▲ 13×5 topics
  29. Subduction101▲ 43×3 topics
  30. Habitat Selection100▲ 42×2 topics
  31. Glacial Cycles98▲ 46×1 topic
  32. Monsoon Dynamics98▲ 46×1 topic
  33. Solar Influence98▲ 43×2 topics
  34. Trophic Cascades98▲ 32×2 topics
  35. Geodetic Measurements96▲ 27×2 topics
  36. Citizen Science95▲ 30×3 topics
  37. GIS-based Modeling95▲ 34×2 topics
  38. Ecosystem94▲ 27×4 topics
  39. Thermodynamic Modeling93▲ 25×3 topics
  40. Water Resources92▲ 12×9 topics

Which research topics does United States Geological Survey publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping, Fish Ecology and Management Studies, Geology and Paleoclimatology Research and earthquake and tectonic studies.

Geochemistry and Geologi…107Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping: 107 fractional worksFish Ecology and Managem…102Fish Ecology and Management Studies: 102 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimato…98Geology and Paleoclimatology Research: 98 fractional worksearthquake and tectonic …92earthquake and tectonic studies: 92 fractional worksGeological and Geochemical Analysis: 92 fractional worksWildlife Ecology and Conservation: 69 fractional worksHydrology and Watershed …66Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies: 66 fractional worksFire effects on ecosystems: 55 fractional worksRangeland and Wildlife Management: 52 fractional worksLandslides and related hazards: 51 fractional works
Artificial IntelligenceNature and Landscape ConservationAtmospheric ScienceGeophysics4 others

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

  1. 1 Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping Artificial Intelligence 107 works
  2. 2 Fish Ecology and Management Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 102 works
  3. 3 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 98 works
  4. 4 earthquake and tectonic studies Geophysics 92 works
  5. 5 Geological and Geochemical Analysis Geophysics 92 works
  6. 6 Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Ecology 69 works
  7. 7 Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies Water Science and Technology 66 works
  8. 8 Fire effects on ecosystems Global and Planetary Change 55 works
  9. 9 Rangeland and Wildlife Management Ecology 52 works
  10. 10 Landslides and related hazards Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 51 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 available30.4%not open69.6%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors12.2%domestic only87.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has United States Geological Survey's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 13% 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 Reston

All research institutions in Reston

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.