About
NOAA's former three data centers have merged into the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
![Map showing NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218005438im_/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/media/images/about/ncei-geographic-locations-june-1-2017.jpg)
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.
NCEI's Ocean Data Archive
Have you ever performed a Google search on "ocean data" or "ocean temperatures"? NCEI's Ocean Data Archive comes up first! Hundreds of thousands of people use NOAA's ocean data for research, coastal planning, business actions, commerce and transportation, or beach travel plans.
We Provide:
- The World's largest collection of freely available oceanographic data
- Water temperatures dating back to the late 1700's and measuring thousands of meters deep
- A "State of the Ocean Climate" from NCEI's Ocean Climate Lab and Satellite Team's scientific analyses
- Scientific journals, rare books, historical photo collections and maps through the NOAA Central Library, a division of NCEI
- Data management expertise including metadata training
Experience Matters
For over fifty years, we have served the Nation with unmatched expertise in the scientific stewardship of marine data and information. This unique blend of oceanographers, computer scientists, data managers, and librarians, know that good decisions are based on good data. Acquiring and archiving ocean data from all over the world and from a variety of sources, NODC provides the services and products that decision makers and researchers need. Supported by advanced technologies are people who understand that oceanographic research, satellite and observational data collected for the public's benefit, must be archived, protected, and made available to everyone. After all, today's data are the foundation for tomorrow's decisions.