Research Trends and Areas of Focus on Wind Erosion: A Bibliometric Analysis during 1941-2022

Abstract

Wind erosion represents an important form of soil degradation in arid and semi-arid regions. However, it currently lacks a comprehensive evaluation on wind erosion research, which may limit our understanding of the history, evolution, and development of this critical topic. we extensively analyzed literature on wind erosion published from 1941 to 2022 using the Web of Science (WOS) core collection and bibliometric analyses. We found that larger-scale studies tended to have higher citation rates. As research progressed, the study of wind erosion tended to be gradually diversified and refined, no longer limited to single-factor analysis. Dust was an indispensable indicator, whereas climate change was an essential condition that could not be ignored. Modelling may play an important role and extensive attention must be paid to multiple factors and ecological systems in the future investigation of wind erosion. Moreover, the major study areas of wind erosion also constantly shifted. The fact that China emerging as a significant contributor to wind erosion research, particularly in the Loess Plateau and Inner Mongolia. Overall, this study revealed the evolution of wind erosion research over the past 80 years and the results are of importance for gaining understanding on the development trends.