Summary
Atmospheric sciences encompass the study of Earth’s gaseous envelope and the processes that govern weather, climate and environmental interactions. Research spans from microscale turbulence in the boundary layer to planetary-scale circulations, examining energy and mass exchanges among the atmosphere, oceans and land surface. Key drivers include solar radiation, atmospheric composition, moisture dynamics and the Earth’s rotation, which together determine temperature distributions, cloud formation, precipitation and extreme events. Advances in remote sensing, in-situ observations and high-resolution modelling have unveiled the roles of aerosols in cloud microphysics, the feedbacks of greenhouse gases on stratospheric and tropospheric temperatures, and the mechanisms underpinning storm development and intensity. The discipline integrates physics, chemistry and data-science to interpret past variability, attribute observed changes to natural and anthropogenic forcings and project future atmospheric behaviour. Its global significance is reflected in applications ranging from weather forecasting and air-quality management to climate mitigation policy and disaster-risk reduction.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent analyses of multi-model climate ensembles have revealed a robust increase in the frequency and severity of extratropical windstorms across northern mid-latitudes under high-emission scenarios, with doubled meteorological severity and a threefold rise in population-weighted impacts despite adaptive measures. Mechanistic studies of lowermost stratospheric humidity show that even small moist biases at the tropical tropopause can induce significant poleward shifts of subtropical jets and strengthen overturning circulations, effects comparable to those expected under greenhouse-gas forcing. Complementing these insights, the application of three-dimensional deep neural networks to global weather prediction has matched or exceeded the skill of leading operational systems in medium-range forecasting—especially for temperature, wind fields and tropical cyclone tracks—while delivering substantial gains in computational efficiency.
Topic trend for the past 5 years
The graph below shows the article count in Nature Index journals for atmospheric sciences.
* The ‘Current Index’ represents data for a 12-month rolling window, the current window is 1 May 2025 - 30 April 2026.
Technical terms
Convection-permitting simulation: A high-resolution numerical model that explicitly resolves convective storms and associated microphysics without relying on parameterisations for large-scale convection.
Severity index: A metric combining intensity, duration and spatial extent of a hazard—such as wind or rainfall—to quantify its potential impact.
Population-weighted impact: A measure of hazard severity adjusted by population distribution, reflecting the expected exposure of people to extreme events.
Artificial-intelligence-based forecasting: Use of machine-learning algorithms, including deep neural networks, to predict atmospheric variables from historical and real-time data patterns.
Secondary organic aerosol: Particulate matter formed in the atmosphere by the oxidation of volatile organic compounds, often originating from combustion or biogenic sources.
Notable articles in atmospheric sciences
- Future increased risk from extratropical windstorms in northern Europe. Nature Communications (2023).
- Stratospheric water vapor affecting atmospheric circulation. Nature Communications (2023).
- Accurate medium-range global weather forecasting with 3D neural networks. Nature (2023).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Research
Position of Atmospheric Sciences in Nature Index by Count
Leading institutions
Leading countries/territories
| Countries/territories | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| China | 906 | 786.59 |
| United States of America (USA) | 732 | 490.28 |
| Germany | 165 | 69.38 |
| United Kingdom (UK) | 149 | 52.46 |
| Japan | 90 | 47.91 |
| South Korea | 64 | 38.54 |
| Canada | 82 | 34.82 |
| France | 86 | 33.33 |
| India | 37 | 23.5 |
| Switzerland | 65 | 21.43 |
Collaboration
Top 5 leading collaborators in Atmospheric Sciences
Collaborating institutions
Note: Hover over the bars to view details about each institution's Share.
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