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Topic · Astronomy and Astrophysics

Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics

Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics is a research topic within Astronomy and Astrophysics. Science Explorer counts 77k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to solar physics, including the study of solar dynamics, coronal mass ejections, solar wind, magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, solar flares, helioseismology, solar irradiance variability, interplanetary coronal mass ejections, sunspots, and space weather.

  • Solar Dynamics Observatory
  • Coronal Mass Ejections
  • Solar Wind
  • Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence
  • Solar Flares
  • Helioseismology
  • Solar Irradiance Variability
  • Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections
  • Sunspots
  • Space Weather
Research works
77k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
7.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-3%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
37% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics

Which countries lead Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (2.6k and 1.2k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 2.6k works
  2. 2 China 1.2k works
  3. 3 Russia 810 works
  4. 4 India 530 works
  5. 5 France 390 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 360 works
  7. 7 Germany 344 works
  8. 8 Japan 285 works
  9. 9 Italy 243 works
  10. 10 Spain 242 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.

United States: 36.9%China: 16.9%Russia: 11.7%India: 7.6%6 others listed: 26.9%37%largest
United States2,560 · 36.9%China1,175 · 16.9%Russia810 · 11.7%India530 · 7.6%6 others listed1,863 · 26.9%

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

Which institutions lead Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 539 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 312 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 162 works
  4. 4 Washington State UniversityUnited States 143 works
  5. 5 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasSpain 127 works
  6. 6 University of Colorado BoulderUnited States 122 works
  7. 7 National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationUnited States 122 works
  8. 8 Max Planck SocietyGermany 93 works
  9. 9 Michigan State UniversityUnited States 72 works
  10. 10 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 70 works

Who are the leading researchers in Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics include M. Shoji, Xiaogang Wang and Philippe Ciais.

  1. 1 M. Shoji Japan 806k citations
  2. 2 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  3. 3 Philippe Ciais France 237k citations
  4. 4 P. Jackson France 230k citations
  5. 5 Harry Eugene Stanley United States 198k 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 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics?

The most cited paper in Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics is "The Chemical Composition of the Sun" (M. Asplund, N. Grevesse, A. J. Sauval et al., 2009), with 9,518 citations. Next come "Smoothed particle hydrodynamics: theory and application to non-spherical stars" (7,263) and "The cosmological constant and dark energy" (5,320).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Chemical Composition of the Sun M. Asplund, N. Grevesse, A. J. Sauval et al. · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics ReviewOpen access 20 Aug 2009 9,518
2 Smoothed particle hydrodynamics: theory and application to non-spherical stars R. A. Gingold, Joseph J. Monaghan · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Dec 1977 7,263
3 The cosmological constant and dark energy P. J. E. Peebles, Bharat Ratra · Reviews of Modern Physics Open access 22 Apr 2003 5,320
4 The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) James R. Lemen et al. · Solar Physics Open access Jun 2011 4,818
5 Interplanetary Magnetic Field and the Auroral Zones J. W. Dungey · Physical Review Letters 15 Jan 1961 4,300
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics research done?

The largest centres of Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Boulder (United States) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Nahant, Richland and Nizhniy Arkhyz.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 460 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 403 works
  3. 3 BoulderUnited States 226 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 172 works
  5. 5 MadridSpain 136 works
  6. 6 Saint PetersburgRussia 107 works
  7. 7 TokyoJapan 99 works
  8. 8 GreenbeltUnited States 97 works
  9. 9 IrkutskRussia 92 works
  10. 10 NanjingChina 83 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. NahantUS · 29.0 works627×
  2. RichlandUS · 78.8 works315×
  3. Nizhniy ArkhyzRU · 32.1 works244×
  4. GreenbeltUS · 97.3 works119×
  5. North LaurelUS · 62.1 works116×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics than the world average.

See Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics on the map

Where is the best place to study Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics?

Among universities, judged by research, Michigan State University, Worcester State University and University of Colorado Boulder 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%50%100%mean 32.52%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Worcester State Univ…Michigan State Unive…University of Colora…Washington State Uni…
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
1Michigan State UniversityUnited States 68.266.0%13.1×72 +2752.3%
2Worcester State UniversityUnited States 63.495.0%176.2×18 -
3University of Colorado BoulderUnited States 50.814.9%35.4×122 -6.5%
4Washington State UniversityUnited States 50.59.6%54.9×142 -
5University of WashingtonUnited States 49.431.2%5.7×49 +585.3%
6University of California, RiversideUnited States 45.374.8%8.4×18 -
7Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 43.512.4%6.0×70 -0.3%
8University of California, DavisUnited States 42.70.1%9.7×58 +2003.3%
9University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 41.99.9%5.2×64 +9.4%
10Wuhan UniversityChina 41.911.3%4.7×50 +43.5%

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 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics, country by country

Is Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 3% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2023.

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 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.034% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%0.30%Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics0.028% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics 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%Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics10.1% 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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