Physical Geography

Abstract

Studies in physical geography aim to reveal characteristics of the natural environment, its evolution, and the geographical diversity of the earth surface. Research objects include the troposphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and upper layer of the lithosphere. Physical geography under NSFC has several branches, including geomorphology, hydrology, applied climatology, biogeography, cryospheric geography, and integrated physical geography. Research on landscape, environmental change and prediction are also included in physical geography Analysis in this section is based on 134 SCI/SSCI mainstream journals of physical geography, of which 39 are comprehensive journals and 95 are specialised. In the past 30 years, with the promotion of many international major scientific programmes, research into physical geography in China has gradually developed a main line of research guided by global change and the comprehensive pattern of the earth surface. Frontier research in China has followed trending global topics in the water cycle and water resources, terrestrial ecosystems, LUCC, and cryosphere evolution. However, faced by regional environmental problems, Chinese scholars have done substantial research in permafrost engineering and the permafrost environment, natural hazards and risk, lake ecosystems and eutrophication, and ecohydrological processes and water resource utilisation in arid regions. In 1986–2015, the number of papers in physical geography has rapidly increased. The proportion of papers published by Chinese authors in the SCI/SSCI mainstream journals, has reached 12.9 % in the last 5 years. The per capita publication figure is 5.3, 2.1 times that of 10 years ago. Average citations of the top 100 highly cited papers of each country in the SCI/SSCI mainstream journals show that the rank of China has risen to 8. As to the role of NSFC funding, 76.4 % of the SCI/SSCI-indexed articles and 73 % of the CSCD-indexed articles published by Chinese authors in the past 10 years are supported by NSFC projects. Of the top 50 highly cited papers in SCI/SSCI journals published by Chinese authors in 2010–2014, 85.6 % are supported by NSFC projects.