Remote Sensing Publications 1961–2023—Analysis of National and Global Trends

Remote sensing underpins significant twenty-first century technical capabilities and innovations. Thus, understanding the technical expertise and financial drivers of the field is of national and international importance, as they are inextricably linked with intellectual property generation. Using 126,479 peer-reviewed journal papers and their affiliated funder information from two major publication databases, this study benchmarks current practices, documents historical shifts, and identifies emerging directions in the remote sensing industry and academic publishing. In 70 years, the field has moved from producing only a dozen scholarly papers a year to more than 13,000 annually, without equivalent growth in publication venues but with a rise in the mean number of authors from three to five in less than 25 years. The largest contributor (research and funding) is China, which has rapidly ascended since 2000 to now dominate the field with a near-majority stake. China’s dominance, representing 47% of all remote sensing journal papers worldwide, is mirrored in affiliated patents.