The NOAA Photo Library has been built so as to capture the work, observations, and studies that are carried on by the scientists, engineers, commissioned officers, and administrative personnel that make up this complex and scientifically diverse agency. It also has been built in an attempt to capture NOAA's scientific heritage, which is in fact a heritage shared by much of the physical and environmental science communities in the United States today. To date, over 32,000 images have been digitized and reside in the online NOAA Photo Library. This number will continue growing as long as there are environmental problems to study and solve, as long as the citizens of the United States are threatened by violent weather, as long as mariners need nautical charts, and as long as creatures of the sea need our protection to survive. Until then, you are invited to join NOAA in this photographic essay that spans the World's oceans and atmosphere, carries you from the surface of the sun to the bottom of the sea, and travels through centuries of scientific thought and observations.
