Progress in the study of typical planetary landforms over the past 30 years: A bibliometric analysis in CiteSpace

Yutong Zhang ^1,2 Weiming Cheng ^1,2,3,4*

• ¹ State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geography Science and Natural Resources (CAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
• ² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• ³ Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
• ⁴ Center of Excellence for Comparative Planetology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Hefei, Anhui Province, China

Landform investigation reports are fundamental datasets for ecology, geology, and geography and record the morphological traces of planetary surface processes, which have been the focus of the top journals and distinguish scholars. Investigating landforms on Earth and other planetary bodies is highly important for understanding planetary formation and geological evolution. Remote sensing techniques have proven to be powerful tools for studying terrestrial and planetary landforms, providing detailed insights into the interactions between land surfaces and both endogenic and exogenic controls and the realization mode of physical processes under different conditions. We focused on the remote sensing perspective of planetary landform investigations, highlighting recent progress in geomorphic research. Publications in top-tier journals for the last thirty years were selected for analysis. We found that areas of geological history and the environment, which are conducive to the survival, growth, and daily activities of living organisms, are of great concern. The United States, the European Union, China, Japan, Canada and their aerospace research institutions continue to be research centers and play important roles all the time. Moreover, our literature survey reveals that research on planetary landforms in more countries is gaining momentum because of advancements in instrument technology and increased international cooperation. The attractive celestial bodies contain planets, moons and comets, and asteroids should receive more attention in the future. To advance our understanding of planetary landforms, higher-precision observation data and more refined simulations are essential. Continued improvements in international cooperation will be crucial for unraveling the complex geological histories within planetary landforms, contributing to our broader understanding of planetary evolution in the Solar System.