The Journal of Remote Sensing, which printed its first issue in 1997, publishes research on remote sensing, with a focus on the real-world effects of scientific innovations. To investigate the development of the Journal of Remote Sensing and remote sensing science in China over the last 20 years, we analyzed the status and trends of 1,804 papers published in the Journal of Remote Sensing from 1997 to2015. Based on bibliometrics, statistical investigation items are presented in this paper, including the total number of citations per year, average number of citations per paper, ranking among the top institutes and universities in terms of the annual number of published papers, annual number of papers supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and so on. We also separately analyzed the quantity of publications and their citations related to standing issues and special ones. By comparing the co-occurrence relation of keywords during four periods, we conclude that with the increasing number of satellites launched successfully, quantitative retrieval models tend to become highly complex, and satellite observation technologies change from single-sensor satellite remote sensing to multi-sensor satellite remote sensing.In addition, a large number of remote sensing studies focus on multi-disciplinary crossing research, including disaster response, global change, air pollution, and food security. In this context, establishing national remote sensing application systems is imperative. Such systems will improve the state’s capacity for macro-control of the environment and resources, and they can provide a scientific basis and decision support for resource management, environmental protection, disaster reduction, and macro-control.

Journal of Remote Sensing;remote sensing;statistical analysis of papers