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    NCDC is the world's largest active archive of weather data. NCDC produces numerous climate publications and responds to data requests from all over the world. NCDC operates the World Data Center for Meteorology which is co-located at NCDC in Asheville, North Carolina, and the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology which is located in Boulder, Colorado.

    NCDC supports a three tier national climate services support program - the partners include: NCDC, Regional Climate Centers, and State Climatologists.



    Top of page About NCDC's Data


    The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is the largest and most diverse environmental data center in the world containing more than 90 percent of NOAAs data. Data archives at NCDC hold a treasure trove of meteorological/ climatological information, environmental satellite data, and NEXRAD weather radar data. These data are a cornerstone for the prediction of future events which affect the world's environment and economy. The data have become critical to the scientific community and policy makers in regard to global climate variability and trends.

    In many regards, this collection represents this nation's heritage in that it contains the history of meteorological observations since the 1700s. The collection is so extensive that it has been estimated that the large majority of all meteorological records ever taken in the United States are available in some form in NCDC's archives.

    NCDC's data are available in both digital and non-digital form on many different media types (paper, 35mm and 16mm film, microfiche, magnetic tape, 8mm tape, optical). The Center's digital holdings contain over million media units, contain almost 300 terabytes of information, and grow almost 80 terabytes each year. Non-digital holdings comprise more than 200 million paper records, two million microfiche, and almost 100,000 rolls of microfilm.

    From this vast collection of data, the following list has been developed which represents some of the more popular environmental data sets available at NCDC.

    Browse, Then Order Online or by Phone/Email.

    More Popular Digital Data Sets at NCDC
    TypeDS IDDescription
    ClimateDS 3505Global Hourly Surface Observations
    ClimateDS 3200Daily Summary Obs - Cooperative U.S. and Possessions
    ClimateDS 3210Daily Summary Observations - First Order U.S.
    ClimateDS 3220Monthly Summary Observations
    ClimateDS 3240Precipitation - Hourly
    ClimateDS 3260Precipitation - 15 Minute
    ClimateDS 3280Hourly Surface Airways
    ClimateDS 1129Marine Surface Observations - Ships (COADS)
    ClimateDS 1138Marine Surface Observations - NDBO Buoy
    ClimateDS 6302Upper Air - Global (CARDS)
    ClimateDS 6301Upper Air - U.S. Rawinsonde
    ClimateNEXRADWeather Radar
    SatellitePOESPolar Orbiter
    SatelliteGOESGeostationary Orbiter

    More Popular Non-Digital Data Sets at NCDC
    TypeDS IDDescription
    ClimateLCDLocal Climatological Data - First Order U.S. (Publication)
    ClimateCDClimatological Data - Cooperative U.S. (Publication)
    ClimateHPDHourly Precipitation Data (Publication)
    ClimateSWOSurface Weather Observations (Original Record)

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