Satellites in Emergency Management: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract Spatial data have proven to be crucial for supporting decision-making in emergency management. In this study, we conduct a bibliometric analysis of 2,833 papers about the application of satellites in emergency management from Web of Science Core Collection between 1991 and 2021. In the descriptive statistics analysis, overall growth trend and geographical distribution are provided, and top-10 influential journals, institutions, and highly cited articles are identified. Co-citation network of authors, keywords and articles are presented based on a data-driven bibliometric analysis, as well as a burst analysis, and the trends and hotspots in different 5-year periods are captured. According to the papers in 13 highlighted research clusters, popular problems and methods in this field are analyzed. Owing to the research topic belongs to an interdisciplinary subject, the clustering results contain a degree of dispersion. Satellites support different phases of emergency management, and future directions are concluded from the perspectives of disaster monitor, vulnerability and risk assessment, damage evaluation, emergency rescue and scheduling. The bibliometric analysis can provide meaningful insights of influential studies, emerging trends, and new developments of satellites applications in emergency management.