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Topic · Aerospace Engineering

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques is a research topic within Aerospace Engineering. Science Explorer counts 20k research works in it since 1951. 47.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry, including topics such as surface deformation monitoring, persistent scatterers, digital elevation models, land subsidence, polarimetric SAR, forest biomass estimation, urban development monitoring, and groundwater extraction.

  • SAR Interferometry
  • Surface Deformation Monitoring
  • Persistent Scatterers
  • Digital Elevation Models
  • InSAR Technique
  • Land Subsidence
  • Polarimetric SAR
  • Forest Biomass Estimation
  • Urban Development Monitoring
  • Groundwater Extraction
Research works
20k
fractional, since 1951
In the world top 10%
9.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
47.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+31%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2.3k and 313 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 2.3k works
  2. 2 United States 313 works
  3. 3 India 243 works
  4. 4 Italy 236 works
  5. 5 Germany 151 works
  6. 6 Indonesia 117 works
  7. 7 Japan 109 works
  8. 8 France 105 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 85 works
  10. 10 South Korea 75 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: 61.5%United States: 8.4%India: 6.5%Italy: 6.3%6 others listed: 17.2%62%largest
China2,295 · 61.5%United States313 · 8.4%India243 · 6.5%Italy236 · 6.3%6 others listed642 · 17.2%

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

Which institutions lead Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques research?

By volume in 2022–2025, National University of Defense Technology publishes the most Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques research, followed by University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Xidian University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 103 works
  2. 2 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 100 works
  3. 3 Xidian UniversityChina 95 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 93 works
  5. 5 Aerospace Information Research InstituteChina 85 works
  6. 6 Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)Germany 58 works
  7. 7 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 58 works
  8. 8 Central South UniversityChina 49 works
  9. 9 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 49 works
  10. 10 Wuhan UniversityChina 46 works

Who are the leading researchers in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques include Antonio Plaza, Liangpei Zhang and Jocelyn Chanussot.

  1. 1 Antonio Plaza Spain 3.5k citations
  2. 2 Liangpei Zhang China 3.2k citations
  3. 3 Jocelyn Chanussot France 3.1k citations
  4. 4 Licheng Jiao China 2.8k citations

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

Where is Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques research done?

The largest centres of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Changsha (China) and Chengdu (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Pasadena, Cologne and Naples.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 709 works
  2. 2 Xi'an China 208 works
  3. 3 Changsha China 179 works
  4. 4 Chengdu China 151 works
  5. 5 Wuhan China 128 works
  6. 6 Shanghai China 128 works
  7. 7 Nanjing China 117 works
  8. 8 Rome Italy 68 works
  9. 9 Guangzhou China 60 works
  10. 10 Cologne Germany 58 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. PasadenaUS · 28.1 works15×
  2. CologneDE · 58.2 works12×
  3. NaplesIT · 50.7 works10×
  4. XuzhouCN · 34.3 works8.5×
  5. ChangshaCN · 178.9 works8.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques than the world average.

See Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques on the map

Where is the best place to study Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques?

Among universities, judged by research, China University of Geosciences, Chang'an University and Chengdu 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%25%50%75%mean 56.82%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →China University of Geosciences: 26, 61.6%Chang'an University: 22, 67.2%Chengdu University of Technology: 17, 66.6%Xidian University: 95, 55.3%Aerospace Information Research Institute: 85, 49.2%China University of Mining and Technology: 34, 62.1%National University of Defense Technology: 104, 48.9%Central South University: 49, 61.5%University of Electronic Science and Technology of China: 100, 37.1%University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: 49, 58.7%Chang'an UniversityChengdu University o…China University of …Xidian University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 China University of GeosciencesChina 77.361.6%13.0×26 +191.6%
2 Chang'an UniversityChina 76.867.2%13.6×22 +167.2%
3 Chengdu University of TechnologyChina 74.766.6%13.6×17 +181.8%
4 Xidian UniversityChina 73.955.3%29.8×95 +46.7%
5 Aerospace Information Research InstituteChina 69.749.2%165.6×85 —
6 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 69.062.1%9.8×34 +53.5%
7 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 67.948.9%30.5×104 +24.1%
8 Central South UniversityChina 65.761.5%6.9×49 +82.7%
9 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 64.737.1%20.3×100 +58.6%
10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 63.358.7%6.8×49 +68.2%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 31% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

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.