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23-589: NOAA also operated two other data centers: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Asheville, North Carolina and National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Boulder, Colorado . In 2015, the three merged to form the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, is also operated for NGDC by the University of Colorado through

46-601: A free and open situation in which data and dialogue are exchanged. NCDC maintained the U.S. Climate Reference Network datasets and a vast number of other climate monitoring products. World Data Center The World Data Centre ( WDC ) system was created to archive and distribute data collected from the observational programmes of the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year by the International Council of Scientific Unions ( ICSU ). The WDCs were funded and maintained by their host countries on behalf of

69-697: A mechanism for data exchange, and they operate under guidelines issued by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). Under NODC leadership, the Global Data Archeology and Rescue (GODAR) project grew into a major international program sponsored by the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission. GODAR is a comprehensive effort to locate, rescue, quality control , and disseminate historical global ocean profile data for use by

92-747: A variety of operational and research missions by U.S. Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense (primarily the U.S. Navy); by State and local government agencies; by universities and research institutions; and private industry . NODC data holdings extended back over a hundred years, and the volume is expected to grow exponentially as new ocean observing systems are deployed. Through NODC archive and access services, these ocean data were reused to answer questions about climate change, ocean phenomena, and management of coastal and marine resources, marine transportation, recreation, national security, and natural disasters. Another significant user community

115-573: Is Education, where these data and information products help teach each new generation of students about the oceans. Requests for oceanographic data and information have increased each year since the Center was established in 1961. Access to these archives is still available through the NCEI. A significant percentage of the oceanographic data held by NODC was foreign. NODC acquired foreign data through direct bilateral exchanges with other countries, and through

138-612: Is still under study. Regardless of the causes, it is essential that a baseline of long-term climate data be compiled; therefore, global data must be acquired, quality controlled, and archived. Working with international institutions such as the International Council of Scientific Unions , the World Data Centers , and the World Meteorological Organization , NCDC develops standards by which data can be exchanged and made accessible. NCDC provides

161-599: The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) . These discipline-oriented centers served as national repositories and dissemination facilities for global environmental data. The data archives amassed by the NODC and the other centers provide a record of Earth's changing environment, support numerous research and operational applications, and are still available through

184-792: The Grove Arcade Building in Asheville, North Carolina. Processing of the climate data was accomplished at Weather Records Processing Centers at Chattanooga, Tennessee ; Kansas City, Missouri ; and San Francisco, California, until January 1, 1963, when it was consolidated with the NWRC. In 1967, the agency was renamed the National Climatic Data Center. In 1995, the NCDC moved into the newly completed Veach-Baley Federal Complex in downtown Asheville. In 2015,

207-546: The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). In 1934, the U.S. government established a tabulation unit in New Orleans , Louisiana, to process weather records. Climate records and upper air observations were punched onto cards in 1936. This organization was transferred to Asheville, North Carolina , in 1951, where the National Weather Records Center (NWRC). It was housed in

230-439: The greenhouse effect , and other environmental issues . The Center stored information essential to industry, agriculture, science, hydrology , transportation, recreation , and engineering. These services are still provided by the NCEI. The NCDC said: Evidence is mounting that global climate is changing. While it is generally accepted that humans are negatively influencing the climate, the extent to which humans are responsible

253-795: The NCDC merged with the National Geophysical Data Center and the National Oceanographic Data Center to become the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Data were received from a wide variety of sources, including weather satellites , radar , automated airport weather stations , National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative Observers , aircraft, ships, radiosondes , wind profilers , rocketsondes , solar radiation networks, and NWS Forecast/Warnings/Analyses Products. The Center provided historical perspectives on climate which were vital to studies on global climate change ,

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276-465: The NCEI. Working cooperatively, the centers provided data products and services to scientists, engineers, resource managers, policy makers, and other users—both in the United States and around the world. Established in 1961, the NODC was originally an interagency facility administered by the U.S. Naval Hydrographic (later Oceanographic) Office. The NODC was transferred to NOAA in 1970 when NOAA

299-476: The United States. The combined libraries contained millions of volumes including books, journals, CD-ROMs , DVDs, audio, and video tapes . These holdings are now managed by the NCEI. Each year, the NODC responded to thousands of requests for oceanographic data and information. Copies of specified data sets or data selected from the NODC's archive databases were provided to users on various media types, or online. NODC data products were provided at prices that cover

322-718: The climate and global change research community . The NODC provided data management support for major ocean science projects and promotes improved working relations with the academic ocean research community. The NODC also managed the NOAA Library and Information Network, which included the NOAA Central Library in Silver Spring, MD; regional libraries in Miami, FL and Seattle, WA; and field libraries or information centers at about 30 NOAA sites throughout

345-604: The cost of data selection and retrieval. However, data provided on the NODC public website is free of charge. National Climatic Data Center The United States National Climatic Data Center ( NCDC ), previously known as the National Weather Records Center (NWRC) , in Asheville , North Carolina , was the world's largest active archive of weather data. In 2015, the NCDC merged with two other federal environmental records agencies to become

368-557: The facilities of the World Data Center for Oceanography, Silver Spring, which is collocated with, and operated by, NODC. There are three World Data Centers for Oceanography: World Data Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, World Data Center, Moscow, Russia , and World Data Center, Tianjin, People's Republic of China. They are part of the World Data Center System initiated in 1957 to provide

391-417: The general public, government agencies, private institutions, foreign governments, and the private sector on matters involving oceanographic data. The NODC managed the world's largest collection of publicly available oceanographic data. NODC holdings included in situ and remotely sensed physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic data from coastal and deep ocean areas. These were originally collected for

414-530: The historical perspective on climate. Through the use of over a hundred years of weather observations, reference data bases are generated. From this knowledge the clientele of NCDC can learn from the past to prepare for a better tomorrow. Wise use of our most valuable natural resource, climate, is the goal of climate researchers, state and regional climate centers, business, and commerce. NCDC also maintained World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville. The four World Centers (U.S., Russia, Japan and China) have created

437-567: The international science community. Originally established in the United States (WDC A), Soviet Union (WDC B), Europe and Japan (WDC C), the WDC system expanded to other countries and to new scientific disciplines. The WDC system included up to 52 Centres in 15 countries, with some data centres replicating another. All data held in WDCs were available for the cost of copying and sending

460-506: The oceans, and ocean model simulations. NODC personnel directly interacted with federal, state, academic, and industrial oceanographic activities, represent NESDIS on various interagency domestic panels, committees and councils, and represent the United States in various international organizations , such as the International Oceanographic Data Exchange. The Data Center represents NESDIS and NOAA to

483-674: The requested information. In 1968 the ICSU Panel on World Data Centers (Geophysical, Solar, and Environmental) was established to coordinate activities and to establish operating criteria for the WDCs. At the end of 2008, following the ICSU General Assembly in Maputo (Mozambique), the World Data Centres were reformed and a new ISC World Data System (WDS) established in 2009. Expanding on the 50-year heritage of

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506-710: Was "To provide scientific stewardship of marine data and information". The National Oceanographic Data Center, National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC) and NOAA Central Library, with its regional branch assets, were integrated to provide access to the world's most comprehensive sources of marine environmental data and information. NODC maintains and updates a national ocean archive with environmental data acquired from domestic and foreign activities, and produces products and research from these data, to help monitor global environmental changes. The data included physical, biological and chemical measurements derived from in situ oceanographic observations, satellite remote sensing of

529-422: Was created by Executive Order by then-President, Richard Nixon . In the words of its charter, the NODC serves to "acquire, process, preserve, and disseminate oceanographic data." Its primary mission is to ensure that global oceanographic data sets collected at great cost are maintained in a permanent archive that is easily accessible to the world science community, and to other users. The NODC's mission statement

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