Heliophysics

SME

179 tracked publications and 6,151 citations from 1982–2019. Solar Mesosphere Explorer. Launched 1981. Life-cycle cost: $150M in 2025 dollars. Active Mission Window November 1, 1981 to May 1, 1991: 105 publications, 13 top-10% credit.

Orbiter · h-index 46 · 8 papers with 100+ citations · prime mission ended 1982

Lifetime

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window · papers November 1, 1981 to May 1, 1991
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods105
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods1,016
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods9.7
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods8
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods13 (12%)
Top-10% creditTop 10%: among the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions, ranked against papers published around the same time. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods13 · 0.88% of division
Top-1% creditTop 1%: among the 1% most-cited papers from this division’s missions within the selected window. Not adjusted for publication year. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods0 · 0% of division
Lifetime indices · every tracked publication to date, in any scope
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods46
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods69
m-index, as of October 4, 2026m-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes, so it belongs to the date shown; it also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods1.0
toritori (total research impact, from ADS): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Methods83
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Methods239

Tracked publications

  1. Improved solar Lyman α irradiance modeling from 1947 through 1999 based on UARS observations

    Woods, Thomas N., 2000, JGR

    291 citations

  2. Geocoronal imaging with Dynamics Explorer

    Rairden, R. L., 1986, JGR

    246 citations

  3. Climatology of the semiannual oscillation of the tropical middle atmosphere

    Garcia, Rolando R., 1997, JGR

    206 citations

  4. Solar Mesosphere Explorer near-infrared spectrometer Measurements of 1.27-micron radiances and the inference of mesospheric ozone

    Thomas, R. J., 1984, JGR

    121 citations

  5. A Computation of the Stratospheric Diabatic Circulation Using an Accurate Radiative Transfer Model.

    Rosenfield, Joan E., 1987, JAtS

    111 citations

  6. Ground-based microwave observations of ozone in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere

    Connor, Brian J., 1994, JGR

    107 citations

  7. Temperature effects on the stratosphere of the April 4, 1982 eruption of El Chichon, Mexico

    Labitzke, K., 1983, GeoRL

    105 citations

  8. Solar-terrestrial coupling: Low-latitude thermospheric nitric oxide

    Barth, Charles A., 1988, GeoRL

    102 citations

  9. A growth-sedimentation model of polar mesospheric clouds: Comparison with SME measurements

    Jensen, Eric, 1988, JGR

    98 citations

  10. Climatology and trends of mesospheric (58-90 km) temperatures based upon 1982-1986 SME Limb scattering profiles

    Clancy, R. Todd, 1989, JGR

    98 citations

  11. EUV97: Improvements to EUV Irradiance Modeling in the Soft X-Rays and FUV

    Tobiska, W. Kent, 1998, SoPh

    92 citations

  12. On the mean particle size and water content of polar mesospheric clouds

    Thomas, G. E., 1985, P&SS

    91 citations

  13. Mesospheric ozone depletion during the Solar Proton Event of July 13, 1982 Part II. Comparison between theory and measurements

    Solomon, S., 1983, GeoRL

    90 citations

  14. Observations of solar UV and EUV variability

    Rottman, G. J., 1988, AdSpR

    90 citations

  15. Precipitating relativistic electrons: Their long-term effect on stratospheric odd nitrogen levels

    Callis, Linwood B., 1991, JGR

    90 citations

  16. Response of middle atmosphere to short-term solar ultraviolet variations. I - Observations. II - Theory

    Keating, G. M., 1987, JGR

    89 citations

  17. An Improved Lyman-Alpha Composite

    Machol, J., 2019, E&SS

    87 citations

  18. Comparison of 10.7 cm radio flux with SME solar Lyman alpha flux

    Barth, Charles A., 1990, GeoRL

    85 citations

  19. A solar EUV flux model

    Tobiska, W. Kent, 1990, JGR

    84 citations

  20. Solar Mesosphere Explorer: Scientific objectives and results

    Barth, C. A., 1983, GeoRL

    79 citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS) for peer-reviewed articles naming SME in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces. SciX is ADS’s current interface.

((=abs:"Solar Mesosphere Explorer" OR =abs:"Solar Mesospheric Explorer" OR =abs:"SME satellite" OR (abs:SME AND (abs:(mesosphere OR mesospheric OR stratosphere OR stratospheric OR airglow OR lyman OR mesopause OR UARS) OR =abs:"middle atmosphere" OR =abs:"polar mesospheric" OR (=abs:irradiance AND abs:solar) OR (abs:ozone AND abs:(SBUV OR SAGE OR LIMS OR Nimbus OR satellite)))))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[1981-11 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "AIASJ" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NewSc" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Removed after review (7)

  1. Environment-friendly industrial cleaning agents incorporating plant-oil-based raw materials as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) alternatives Industrial cleaning agents; SME here means soybean methyl ester. Decision 🤖
  2. Commercial lunar propellant architecture: A collaborative study of lunar propellant production Lunar propellant study; SME here means subject matter expert. Decision 🤖
  3. How COVID-19 shock will drive the economy and climate? A data-driven approach to model and forecast Economics paper; SME here means small and medium enterprises. Decision 🤖
  4. A statistical study of the O₂ atmospheric band aurora observed by the Swedish satellite MATS MATS satellite aurora study; SME here is the SuperMAG geomagnetic index. Decision 🤖
  5. A ground state of the geospace on November 6─7, 2009 Geospace quiet-day study; SME here is the SuperMAG geomagnetic index. Decision 🤖
  6. Geomagnetic Disturbances and Midlatitude Airglow During the 20 December 2015 Magnetospheric Storm Geomagnetic storm study; SME here is the SuperMAG electrojet index. Decision 🤖
  7. Infrared atmospheric band airglow radiometer on board the satellite Ohzora Describes an instrument on another satellite (Ohzora); reports no SME results. Decision 🤖