A bibliometric analysis on the visibility of the Sentinel-1 mission in the scientific literature

Abstract

AbstractSeven years after the launch of the first Sentinel-1 satellite, its data have been widely used in the scientific community. This study provides the first quantitative analysis of the visibility of the Sentinel-1 mission to the scientific literature through a bibliometric analysis of 1628 articles published in scientific journals during the 2014–2020 period. The main findings show that the number of Sentinel-1 mission-related papers increased significantly over the years, with an annual growth rate of 83%. Remote sensing is the most popular journal where 31.75% of the publication collection has been published. China and the USA are the two most productive countries with a share of 22.30% and 16.22% in the collection. Research based on the Sentinel-1 data covered a wide range of topics in geoscience disciplines. The use of SAR interferometry, focusing on the studies of landslide, earthquake, ground deformation, and subsidence, is the most important research direction using Sentinel-1 data. Image fusion of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 observations for mapping and monitoring applications is the second most important research direction. Other popular research areas are glaciology, soil moisture, agriculture, rice monitoring, and ship detection. This study uses bibliographic data derived only from the Scopus database; therefore, it might not cover all Sentinel-1 related documents. However, this paper is a good reference for researchers who want to use Sentinel-1 data in their studies. The two Sentinel-1 satellites will provide scientific data for years to come, meaning that this type of analysis should be done on a regular basis.