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Topic · Atmospheric Science

Precipitation Measurement and Analysis

Precipitation Measurement and Analysis is a research topic within Atmospheric Science. Science Explorer counts 21k 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 estimation, validation, and improvement of satellite-based precipitation data using a variety of techniques including gauge and radar measurements, hydrological modeling, and spatial interpolation. It covers topics such as global measurement, rainfall estimation from satellite imagery, and the challenges of satellite rainfall estimation over complex terrain.

  • Satellite
  • Precipitation
  • Estimation
  • Validation
  • Rainfall
  • Gauge
  • Radar
  • Hydrological Modeling
  • Global Measurement
  • Spatial Interpolation
Research works
21k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+4%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
38% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Precipitation Measurement and Analysis

Which countries lead Precipitation Measurement and Analysis research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.3k and 709 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.3k works
  2. 2 United States 709 works
  3. 3 India 512 works
  4. 4 Indonesia 188 works
  5. 5 Italy 147 works
  6. 6 Japan 136 works
  7. 7 Brazil 134 works
  8. 8 Germany 130 works
  9. 9 France 119 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 112 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: 38.0%United States: 20.1%India: 14.5%Indonesia: 5.3%6 others listed: 22.0%38%largest
China1,339 · 38.0%United States709 · 20.1%India512 · 14.5%Indonesia188 · 5.3%6 others listed777 · 22.0%

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

Which institutions lead Precipitation Measurement and Analysis research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Precipitation Measurement and Analysis research, followed by China Meteorological Administration and Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 148 works
  2. 2 China Meteorological AdministrationChina 117 works
  3. 3 Nanjing University of Information Science and TechnologyChina 65 works
  4. 4 Ministry of Earth SciencesIndia 57 works
  5. 5 Colorado State UniversityUnited States 41 works
  6. 6 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 41 works
  7. 7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationUnited States 39 works
  8. 8 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 38 works
  9. 9 Meteorological, Climatological, And Geophysical AgencyIndonesia 34 works
  10. 10 Chinese Academy of Meteorological SciencesChina 34 works

Who are the leading researchers in Precipitation Measurement and Analysis?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Precipitation Measurement and Analysis include Philippe Ciais, Josep Peñuelas and Robert B. Jackson.

  1. 1 Philippe Ciais France 237k citations
  2. 2 Josep Peñuelas Spain 160k citations
  3. 3 Robert B. Jackson United States 149k 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 Precipitation Measurement and Analysis?

The most cited paper in Precipitation Measurement and Analysis is "The TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA): Quasi-Global, Multiyear, Combined-Sensor Precipitation Estimates at Fine Scales" (George J. Huffman, David T. Bolvin, Eric J. Nelkin et al., 2007), with 6,998 citations. Next come "The Version-2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979–Present)" (5,567) and "Global Precipitation: A 17-Year Monthly Analysis Based on Gauge Observations, Satellite Estimates, and Numerical Model Outputs" (4,411).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA): Quasi-Global, Multiyear, Combined-Sensor Precipitation Estimates at Fine Scales George J. Huffman, David T. Bolvin, Eric J. Nelkin et al. · Journal of Hydrometeorology Feb 2007 6,998
2 The Version-2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979–Present) Robert F. Adler, George J. Huffman, Alfred T. C. Chang et al. · Journal of Hydrometeorology Open access Dec 2003 5,567
3 Global Precipitation: A 17-Year Monthly Analysis Based on Gauge Observations, Satellite Estimates, and Numerical Model Outputs Pingping Xie, Phillip A. Arkin · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open access Nov 1997 4,411
4 CMORPH: A Method that Produces Global Precipitation Estimates from Passive Microwave and Infrared Data at High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Robert J. Joyce, John E. Janowiak, Phillip A. Arkin et al. · Journal of Hydrometeorology Jun 2004 3,287
5 The Changing Character of Precipitation Kevin E. Trenberth, Aiguo Dai, Roy M. Rasmussen et al. · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open access Sep 2003 3,263
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Precipitation Measurement and Analysis research done?

The largest centres of Precipitation Measurement and Analysis research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Wuhan (China) and Jakarta (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Greenbelt, Norman and Fort Collins.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 446 works
  2. 2 NanjingChina 160 works
  3. 3 WuhanChina 74 works
  4. 4 JakartaIndonesia 58 works
  5. 5 ChengduChina 58 works
  6. 6 New DelhiIndia 57 works
  7. 7 TokyoJapan 51 works
  8. 8 NormanUnited States 46 works
  9. 9 ChangshaChina 46 works
  10. 10 BoulderUnited States 45 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GreenbeltUS · 20.4 works44×
  2. NormanUS · 46.4 works29×
  3. Fort CollinsUS · 41.8 works23×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Precipitation Measurement and Analysis than the world average.

See Precipitation Measurement and Analysis on the map

Where is the best place to study Precipitation Measurement and Analysis?

Among universities, judged by research, Wuhan University, Hohai University and Beijing Normal 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%10%20%mean 16.2%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Wuhan UniversityBeijing Normal Unive…Hohai UniversityNanjing University o…
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
1Wuhan UniversityChina 72.020.9%5.0×30 +47.3%
2Hohai UniversityChina 69.119.6%12.0×30 -15.6%
3Beijing Normal UniversityChina 68.220.8%8.1×27 +4.2%
4Nanjing University of Information Science and TechnologyChina 67.87.0%38.1×65 +26.7%
5University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 61.813.8%3.9×27 +20.4%
6Indian Institute of Technology RoorkeeIndia 57.623.7%6.2×12 -12.1%
7National University of Defense TechnologyChina 55.08.7%11.6×38 +48.4%
8China University of GeosciencesChina 53.717.5%4.5×9 +227.2%
9Tianjin UniversityChina 52.319.6%2.2×12 +137.1%
10California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 52.010.4%17.9×27 -32.8%

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 Precipitation Measurement and Analysis, country by country

Is Precipitation Measurement and Analysis research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 4% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Precipitation Measurement and Analysis.

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 Precipitation Measurement and Analysis as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.018% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Precipitation Measurement and Analysis0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Precipitation Measurement and Analysis 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%Precipitation Measurement and Analysis10.2% 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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