Visualization Analysis of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Research Based on CiteSpace

【Objective】 The development and application of subsurface drip irrigation is of great importance for helping mitigate the limitation of water resources faced by agriculture in arid and semiarid regions around the world. This paper reviewed the research progresses made over the past decades in subsurface drip irrigation and discusses its potential development in the future. 【Method】 The analysis was based on publications collected in the database of Web of Science. We used the Origin and CiteSpace knowledge mapping software to analyze the knowledge map of subsurface drip irrigation research in five aspects: numbers of publications, cooperative network, keyword co-occurrence, emerging keywords analysis, and co-citation clustering. 【Result】 ①Research on subsurface drip irrigation has undergone three distinct stages: infancy, a period of fluctuation, and rapid advancement. The main publication journal is Agriculture Water Management, and the United States and China contributed most papers. There are close cooperations between countries and institutions, and the collaboration show a pattern of "local concentration and overall dispersion." ②The main research areas include soil water transport, plant growth and development, irrigation water quality and soil salinization, and irrigation water management. The research focus was water transport mechanisms, hydrological modeling, control of irrigation water quality, and automation control of drip irrigation technology. Other areas included system optimization, water-saving irrigation technologies, soil improvement, application of intelligent technologies and new materials. ③Future research is likely to focus on comparative analysis using multiple databases and explore new influencing factors and irrigation methods through interdisciplinary research. To achieve this, advanced collaborative platforms need to be established, and research on case studies from developing countries and water-scarce regions should be addressed to strengthen cooperation among countries, institutions. 【Conclusion】 Utilizing Citespace software for the analysis of the subsurface drip irrigation field has provided excellent visual representation. This analysis encompasses the distribution of publication quantities, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, burst keyword analysis, and co-citation clustering. These research findings will serve as significant references and guidance for the future theoretical development and practical applications within this field.