About Us
NOAA's former three data centers have merged into the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
The demand for high-value environmental data and information has dramatically increased in recent years. To improve our ability to meet that demand, NOAA’s former three data centers—the National Climatic Data Center, the National Geophysical Data Center, and the National Oceanographic Data Center, which includes the National Coastal Data Development Center—have merged into the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
NCEI is responsible for hosting and providing access to one of the most significant archives on Earth, with comprehensive oceanic, atmospheric, and geophysical data. From the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun and from million-year-old sediment records to near real-time satellite images, NCEI is the Nation’s leading authority for environmental information.
NCEI continues the tradition of excellence, unmatched expertise, and trusted, authoritative data that the previous three Data Centers established. The top priority during the near future is to build on the full spectrum of atmospheric, oceanographic, coastal, and geophysical products and services that the Data Centers delivered. While NCEI's product portfolio will evolve as current products and services are assessed, no products or services are currently slated to be cut or reduced. By using consistent data stewardship tools and practices across all of our science disciplines and by forging an improved data management paradigm, we expect to provide users with improved access to environmental data and information archive products. For more information, please visit www.ncei.noaa.gov.
If you have specific questions about this merger, please let us know at ncei.info@noaa.gov.
Will our websites’ URLs change?
Existing links and domain names (e.g., www.ncdc.noaa.gov) for the Data Centers will continue to be accessible. Over time, the merged Data Centers will develop a plan to consolidate domains. This change will be advertised, and all appropriate redirects will be established. The NCEI landing page has been established as an overview to the new organization.
How will this impact users?
The goal is to provide minimal impacts to users in the short-term. Existing products and services will remain on their current sites, and access will not change. In the long-term, the merger will improve the creation of new products and the access and delivery of existing products and services to users.
A Trusted Authority on Weather and Climate Information
The Nation needs a trusted authority on weather and climate information. Every day, governments, businesses, and individuals make long-term decisions—affecting lives and livelihoods—that require an accurate understanding of the natural environment. NCEI is well positioned to respond to this need by building upon the former National Climatic Data Center’s 61 years of data and customer-focused science, service, and stewardship.
NCEI develops national and global datasets, which are utilized to maximize the use of our climatic and natural resources while also minimizing the risks caused by climate variability and weather extremes. NCEI helps describe the climate of the United States and it acts as the "Nation's Scorekeeper" regarding the trends and anomalies of weather and climate. NCEI's climate data have been used in a variety of applications including agriculture, air quality, construction, education, energy, engineering, forestry, health, insurance, landscape design, livestock management, manufacturing, national security, recreation and tourism, retailing, transportation, and water resources management.
