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Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems

Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems is a research topic within Aerospace Engineering. Science Explorer counts 12k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the development, modeling, control, and optimization of airborne wind energy systems, high-altitude wind power generation, and related high-altitude platforms such as tethered kites, stratospheric airships, and parafoil systems. The research also covers aspects of renewable energy generation, control systems for trajectory tracking, and the use of solar power in high-altitude environments.

  • Airborne Wind Energy
  • High Altitude Wind Power
  • Tethered Kites
  • Stratospheric Airships
  • Parafoil Systems
  • Renewable Energy Generation
  • Control Systems
  • Trajectory Tracking
  • Solar Power Generation
  • Aerostats
Research works
12k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+23%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
46% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems

Which countries lead Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (861 and 406 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 861 works
  2. 2 United States 406 works
  3. 3 India 197 works
  4. 4 Japan 80 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 72 works
  6. 6 Italy 68 works
  7. 7 Germany 68 works
  8. 8 France 51 works
  9. 9 Russia 46 works
  10. 10 Canada 40 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 45.6%United States: 21.5%India: 10.4%Japan: 4.2%6 others listed: 18.3%46%largest
China861 · 45.6%United States406 · 21.5%India197 · 10.4%Japan80 · 4.2%6 others listed346 · 18.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems research?

By volume in 2022-now, Beihang University publishes the most Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Northwestern Polytechnical University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Beihang UniversityChina 77 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 45 works
  3. 3 Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 38 works
  4. 4 Nanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsChina 33 works
  5. 5 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 32 works
  6. 6 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 32 works
  7. 7 National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationUnited States 26 works
  8. 8 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 25 works
  9. 9 United States Department of DefenseUnited States 23 works
  10. 10 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 22 works

Who are the leading researchers in Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems include Kai You Wang, Lei Jiang and Seeram Ramakrishna.

  1. 1 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  2. 2 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  3. 3 Seeram Ramakrishna Singapore 186k citations
  4. 4 Douglas Scott Canada 172k citations
  5. 5 R. W. Moore Australia 145k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems?

The most cited paper in Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems is "Multi-valued contraction mappings" (Sam B. Nadler, 1969), with 2,362 citations. Next come "Ecological morphology and flight in bats (Mammalia; Chiroptera): wing adaptations, flight performance, foraging strategy and echolocation" (1,823) and "Atmospheric Correction for the Troposphere and Stratosphere in Radio Ranging Satellites" (1,510).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Multi-valued contraction mappings Sam B. Nadler · Pacific Journal of Mathematics Open access Aug 1969 2,362
2 Ecological morphology and flight in bats (Mammalia; Chiroptera): wing adaptations, flight performance, foraging strategy and echolocation Ulla M. Lindhe Norberg, J. M. V. Rayner · Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 16 Sep 1987 1,823
3 Atmospheric Correction for the Troposphere and Stratosphere in Radio Ranging Satellites Jouko H. Saastamoinen · Geophysical monograph Book chapter 8 Sep 2011 1,510
4 Note on the swimming of slender fish Michael James Lighthill · Journal of Fluid Mechanics Oct 1960 1,191
5 Flying and swimming animals cruise at a Strouhal number tuned for high power efficiency Graham K. Taylor, Robert L. Nudds, Adrian L. R. Thomas · Nature Oct 2003 991
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems research done?

The largest centres of Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Shanghai (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Delft.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 232 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 72 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 70 works
  4. 4 NanjingChina 63 works
  5. 5 HarbinChina 50 works
  6. 6 ChangshaChina 36 works
  7. 7 TianjinChina 34 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 31 works
  9. 9 WuhanChina 28 works
  10. 10 ChennaiIndia 23 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DelftNL · 22.1 works12×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems than the world average.

See Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems on the map

Where is the best place to study Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems?

Among universities, judged by research, Beihang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Delft University of Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 17.61%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Shanghai Jiao Tong U…Beihang UniversityHarbin Institute of …Delft University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Beihang UniversityChina 83.017.0%32.7×77 +28.6%
2Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 74.323.1%5.3×32 +79.0%
3Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 72.713.7%15.1×22 +14.0%
4Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 64.515.9%9.2×32 +82.3%
5Politecnico di MilanoItaly 60.713.0%9.1×14 +237.3%
6Harbin Engineering UniversityChina 60.322.3%13.6×15 +61.9%
7National University of Defense TechnologyChina 58.613.1%15.0×25 +160.8%
8Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 58.517.8%15.7×38 -7.3%
9Tianjin UniversityChina 57.616.8%3.8×10 +97.9%
10Southeast UniversityChina 57.123.4%2.6×8 +75.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems, country by country

Is Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 23% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems.

still counting19801990200020102020
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 Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.012% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems0.011% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems 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.

still counting5%10%15%Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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