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Topic · Astronomy and Astrophysics

Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena

Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena is a research topic within Astronomy and Astrophysics. Science Explorer counts 24k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the global distribution, physics, and effects of lightning, including topics such as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, the atmospheric electric circuit, climate change, thunderstorm dynamics, lightning detection systems, electromagnetic fields associated with lightning, and simulation of lightning-related phenomena.

  • Lightning
  • Distribution
  • Physics
  • Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes
  • Atmospheric Electric Circuit
  • Climate Change
  • Thunderstorms
  • Detection Systems
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Simulation
Research works
24k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-11%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
47% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena

Which countries lead Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.3k and 405 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.3k works
  2. 2 United States 405 works
  3. 3 India 203 works
  4. 4 Russia 159 works
  5. 5 Brazil 151 works
  6. 6 Japan 146 works
  7. 7 Germany 104 works
  8. 8 Italy 96 works
  9. 9 France 87 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 85 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: 47.4%United States: 14.9%India: 7.4%Russia: 5.8%6 others listed: 24.5%47%largest
China1,291 · 47.4%United States405 · 14.9%India203 · 7.4%Russia159 · 5.8%6 others listed668 · 24.5%

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

Which institutions lead Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena research?

By volume in 2022-now, State Grid Corporation of China (China) publishes the most Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena research, followed by Xi'an Jiaotong University and Russian Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 State Grid Corporation of China (China)China 86 works
  2. 2 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 83 works
  3. 3 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 68 works
  4. 4 North China Electric Power UniversityChina 66 works
  5. 5 Wuhan UniversityChina 61 works
  6. 6 China Southern Power Grid (China)China 56 works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 45 works
  8. 8 Shanghai Electric (China)China 32 works
  9. 9 Chongqing UniversityChina 30 works
  10. 10 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 28 works

Who are the leading researchers in Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena include Xiaogang Wang, Lídia Morawska and Frede Blaabjerg.

  1. 1 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  2. 2 Lídia Morawska Australia 244k citations
  3. 3 Frede Blaabjerg Denmark 203k citations
  4. 4 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k citations
  5. 5 Han Zhang China 161k citations
  6. 6 Markku Kulmala Finland 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 Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena?

The most cited paper in Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena is "A perfectly matched layer for the absorption of electromagnetic waves" (Jean-Pierre Bérenger, 1994), with 10,127 citations. Next come "Rational approximation of frequency domain responses by vector fitting" (3,301) and "Absorbing Boundary Conditions for the Finite-Difference Approximation of the Time-Domain Electromagnetic-Field Equations" (2,566).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A perfectly matched layer for the absorption of electromagnetic waves Jean-Pierre Bérenger · Journal of Computational Physics Oct 1994 10,127
2 Rational approximation of frequency domain responses by vector fitting Bjørn Gustavsen, Adam Semlyen · IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery Jul 1999 3,301
3 Absorbing Boundary Conditions for the Finite-Difference Approximation of the Time-Domain Electromagnetic-Field Equations Gerrit Mur · IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility Nov 1981 2,566
4 Digital Computer Solution of Electromagnetic Transients in Single-and Multiphase Networks Hermann W. Dommel · IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems Apr 1969 1,719
5 Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector Hugh J. Christian, Richard J. Blakeslee, Dennis J. Boccippio et al. · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open access 3 Jan 2003 1,511
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena research done?

The largest centres of Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Wuhan (China) and Shanghai (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Beijing and Palo Alto.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 305 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 115 works
  3. 3 WuhanChina 100 works
  4. 4 ShanghaiChina 81 works
  5. 5 GuangzhouChina 79 works
  6. 6 NanjingChina 72 works
  7. 7 MoscowRussia 56 works
  8. 8 ChengduChina 55 works
  9. 9 TokyoJapan 50 works
  10. 10 ChongqingChina 42 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Beijing36.1 works24×
  2. Palo AltoUS · 23.1 works17×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena than the world average.

See Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena on the map

Where is the best place to study Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena?

Among universities, judged by research, The University of Texas at Dallas, Wuhan University and Xi'an Jiaotong University 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%20%40%mean 16.02%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →The University of Te…Xi'an Jiaotong Unive…Wuhan UniversityAristotle University…
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
1The University of Texas at DallasUnited States 68.043.3%17.6×12 +845.2%
2Wuhan UniversityChina 55.310.9%12.8×61 +64.5%
3Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 53.014.5%14.1×83 -25.3%
4Aristotle University of ThessalonikiGreece 45.28.5%14.5×24 +100.8%
5Universitat Politècnica de CatalunyaSpain 43.123.9%9.7×11 +1.1%
6North China Electric Power UniversityChina 43.06.2%29.3×66 -19.8%
7Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 41.018.4%4.2×12 +13.4%
8University of GenoaItaly 39.116.5%9.0×10 +11.3%
9Yerevan State UniversityArmenia 38.815.2%24.9×9 +115.9%
10University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 38.72.8%13.9×20 +123.2%

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 Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena, country by country

Is Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 11% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2018.

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 Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.011% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena0.016% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena 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%Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena9.8% 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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