A Bibliometric Analysis and Review of Trends in Erosion and Sedimentation studies

Abstract

Erosion and sedimentation in streams, lakes, reservoirs, and watersheds are a global issue. Runoff and flood waves erode soil and streambank material, destroying agricultural land. Erosion and sedimentation in water bodies induce soil loss in the watershed and diminish channel flow depth and conveyance. Agricultural runoff can pollute aquatic ecosystems by carrying sediment. As per IPCC 2019 report, in tropical and subtropical regions, the impacts of soil erosion can be observed from the high rates of soil loss, in some cases exceeding 100 t/ha/yr. Therefore, it becomes necessary to address the problem of erosion and sedimentation with serious concern. This paper focuses on highlighting the research advancements in the field of erosion and sedimentation phenomenon, estimation of erosion and sedimentation rate in watersheds, streams and reservoirs and resulting impact assessment from reach scale to watershed scale in last five decades and assessing further research scope in this regard. A bibliometric analysis considering 1000 research articles database extracted from the Web of science has been conducted in the Biblioshiny platform using the R-programming tool. The Bibliometric analysis shows an annual scientific production growth of 2.27% in the field of erosion and sedimentation. Most of the articles have been published in the USA, followed by China, UK, and Belgium. This is the first such bibliometric analysis of erosion and sedimentation together considering one thousand articles associated with it. The study can help in observing the publication trend and identifying the recent emerging topics for research in the field of erosion and sedimentation.