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The HyDROS Lab is proud to share that Professor Yang Hong has again been named among the world’s top-cited global researchers in the latest Stanford–Elsevier global citation database, as highlighted in the University of Oklahoma’s recent news release (https://www.ou.edu/news/articles/2025/october/dozens-of-ou-experts-included-in-latest-list-of-top-cited-global.html). The 2025 release analyzes citation data through 2024 and identifies researchers based on a composite citation score and those ranked in the top 2% of their subfield.
This recognition from Stanford and Elsevier is not new to Prof. Hong; it reflects his sustained, long-term impact across multiple fields. He is already listed as a Web of Science Highly Cited Author, Elsevier/Stanford Top 2% Scientist, and Clarivate Top 1% Highly Cited Researcher, indicating that his work consistently ranks among the most influential in the world.
From his early contributions to satellite precipitation estimation—including work on PERSIANN-CCS and the NASA/JAXA TRMM TMPA and GPM IMERG multi-satellite precipitation products—to his leadership in developing the CREST hydrologic model family and operational flash-flood guidance systems, Prof. Hong’s research has helped define how the global community observes, models, and manages water extremes. His team’s work underpins tools used by NOAA, NASA, and international partners for flood forecasting, risk mapping, and climate–water resilience planning, with applications ranging from local flash-flood warnings to national-scale climate-risk assessments.
At OU, Prof. Hong serves as a professor in the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science (CEES), directs the HyDROS Lab at the National Weather Center, and is the founding director of the OU Hydrology & Water Security program. Through these roles, he has mentored a large cohort of graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and international collaborators, many of whom now hold influential positions in academia, federal agencies, and the private sector—further amplifying the global reach of HyDROS research.
As OU’s Vice President for Research and Partnerships noted in the university’s announcement, Prof. Hong’s continued presence among the world’s top-cited researchers is both a key part of OU’s research success story and a point of pride for the broader OU research community. Prof. Yang Hong thanks all students, postdocs, collaborators, and partners who contribute to the lab’s mission: advancing remote sensing–based hydrology, flood and landslide science, and climate–water resilience for communities around the world.
