Advancing Water Security in the Tropical and Subtropical Regions: An Integrative Topic Modeling Approach

Abstract

Water security in tropical regions faces escalating pressures from climate change, land-use shifts, and population growth. We conducted a bibliometric review of 1146 peer-reviewed articles (1964–2023) on tropical water security. Latent Dirichlet Allocation identified 13 thematic topics and their evolution. Publications rose sharply after 2012, peaking post-2018, mirroring mounting concern over climate-related risks. Research has centered on climate-water interactions, water quality and treatment, and hydrological modeling, whereas interest in soil-moisture remote sensing declined. A new focus on land-cover-water linkages signals increasing interdisciplinary integration. Gap analysis revealed methodological compartmentalization: SWAT-based modeling studies rarely intersect with empirical water-quality work, creating a persistent evidence divide. Conversely, topics on vegetation, land use, and water balance show strong semantic coherence. Our reproducible topic-modeling framework clarifies evolving research foci and highlights underexplored areas, offering a roadmap to bridge disciplinary divides and inform science-based water-governance strategies across the Global South.