Introduction

• About WDC

Data

• Available Data
• Data Exchange Policy
• Data Search
• Climate of the World

Climatic Research Support

International Polar Year (IPY)

METAR

Links

Facilities

Contact

Introduction

Photo courtesy Grant Goodge/NCDC

World Data Center(WDC) for Meteorology, Asheville is one component of a global network of discipline subcenters that facilitate international exchange of scientific data. Originally established during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957, the World Data Center System now functions under the guidance of the International Council of Scientific Unions ( ICSU).

The WDC for Meteorology, Asheville is maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and is collocated and operated by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

In accordance with the principles set forth by ICSU, WDC for Meteorology, Asheville acquires, catalogues, and archives data and makes them available to requesters in the international scientific community. Data are exchanged with counterparts, WDC for Meteorology, Obninsk and WDC for Meteorology, Beijing as necessary to improve access. Special research data sets prepared under international programs such as the IGY, World Climate Program (WCP), Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP), etc., are archived and made available to the research community. All data and special data sets contributed to the WDC are available to scientific investigators without restriction.