Analysis of Hotspots and Trends in Soil Moisture Research since the 21st Century

Abstract

Soil moisture is a key factor in ecosystems that profoundly affects carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles on land surfaces, vegetation growth, and climate change. Consequently, numerous scholars have researched and authored scientific literature on soil moisture and related topics. Using the Web of Science database, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of 60,581 papers published in the field of soil moisture between 2000 and 2022. The findings revealed the following trends. (1) The number of publications on soil moisture has consistently increased in the 21st century at an increasing rate. For instance, although the annual increase was only 94 publications in 2005, it surged to 321 publications in 2020. (2) The United States (US), China, and developed European countries emerged as primary research institutions and authors. The US occupies a leading position in soil moisture research, boasting the highest number of publications and total citations in the field, whereas China ranks second in both publications and total citations. (3) Regarding international collaboration, the US has established close partnerships with numerous international research institutions. However, China’s international cooperation in this field requires improvement. (4) The Journal of Hydrology holds the top position in terms of both the total number of published articles and citations. Research on water resources ranked first in terms of its H-index. (5) Keyword analysis highlighted several current research hotspots, including the coupled covariance effect of soil moisture and land surface environmental factors in the context of climate change, soil moisture utilization rate, crop yield, influence mechanism of soil moisture on soil ecosystem structure, and development of high-precision soil moisture data products. In conclusion, this study provides a systematic review of the research hotspots and trends in soil moisture studies in the 21st century. The objective is to offer a comprehensive reference to aid in understanding the evolutionary patterns of soil moisture research in multiple dimensions.