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NCDC also collects global data for and maintains the World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville, which is one component of a global network of discipline subcenters that facilitate international exchange of scientific data. 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. Visiting scientists spending extended visitation periods are usually supported by a parent organization or country, a WMO training program, or by competitive grants from U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council.
NCDC's mission is to archive and manage the nation's resource of global climatological in-situ and remotely sensed data and information to promote global environmental stewardship; to describe, monitor and assess the climate; and to support efforts to predict changes in the Earth's environment. This effort requires the acquisition, quality control, processing, summarization, dissemination, and preservation of a vast array of climatological data generated by U.S. and international meteorological services. It is important to note that while weather data focuses only on the present and near-term future state of the atmosphere, climate data is unique in that it accounts for all past weather events, as well as future climate model projections. As a result, climate data can be used by both government and the private sector to maximize the resources provided by our efforts in monitoring the climate and tracking weather extremes.
NCDC has also initiated the Climate Reference Network. The CRN is a nationwide network of climate monitoring stations, collecting real-time high quality temperature and precipitation data, along with other climate elements. The primary goal is to provide future long-term homogeneous observations of temperature and precipitation that can be coupled to past long-term observations for the detection and attribution of present and future climate change. Data from the CRN will be used in operational climate monitoring activities and for placing current climate anomalies into a historical perspective.
The NCDC has the largest climate archive in the world, ranging from data collected hundreds of years ago by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to data collected within the last hour using the most advanced meteorological systems. In the subsequent half-century, NCDC met the challenge of archiving and servicing requests for 98 percent of all NOAA data. Currently, NCDC has a growing archive of more than 1,000 terabytes (or one petabyte) of digital data, over 1.2 million microfiche and 200 million paper records. The total archive is equivalent to 1.5 petabytes and the center ingests about a quarter of a terabyte of data daily (equivalent to 70 million pages of paper). NCDC's digital data would fill more than 1.5 million CD-ROMs, which is equivalent to a stack of CDs nine times higher than the Empire State building or more than 2.5 miles long. Satellite weather images date back to 1960 and NCDC also maintains more than 500 digital data sets to respond to more than 170,000 offline requests each year. Web access users at NCDC annually exceeds three million.
NCDC's data are used to address issues that span the breadth of this nation's interests—ranging from global warming to local ferry service. As a result, NCDC staff work closely with scientists and researchers from around the world. Although global change research is one of the most important contemporary applications of climate data, it is difficult to conceive of a human enterprise that is not dependent on climatic analyses. In fact, virtually all economic endeavors are climate-sensitive. Some (construction, transportation/aviation, agriculture, air quality, water resource management, energy, education, engineering, forestry, health, insurance, landscape design, livestock management, recreation and tourism) more so than others (medicine, accounting, manufacturing and retail), but at some level, almost everything depends upon the weather—and hence climate.
NCDC's data and information are available to everyone including the general public (who might be planning a retirement move), legal professionals (documenting a weather event), large engineering firms (designing the latest in safe, energy efficient structures), industry, agriculture, and government policy makers. To accommodate this large user group, NCDC supports many forms of data and information dissemination, including PDF generated access to copies of original records and publications, maps, atlases, computer printouts, microfiche, microfilm, digital and paper copy satellite images, magnetic tape, floppy disks, CD-ROM, electronic mail, online dial-up, telephone, facsimile and personal visit. Users can also sign-up for subscriptions online and get them electronically in a PDF format. Perhaps the easiest way to retrieve climate data is online, where users can conduct their own search for data using one (or more) of the following criteria:
For specific information regarding NCDC products and services, it's recommended that you consult with one of NCDC's technicians or meteorologists. You may call (828) 271-4800 (choose a selection on the automated phone directory) between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. EST. You may also e-mail NCDC. There is a charge for most services. Pre-payment is required, however, the use of credit cards is acceptable and recommended. Open Deposit accounts, requiring a $1,000 minimum amount, may be established for customers who anticipate frequent purchases of NCDC data.
In the future, NCDC plans to adopt new technologies to assist in its ever-increasing data collection and dissemination efforts. Although this will present a challenge to NCDC, the payoff will be enormous in terms of its improved climate data documentation and overall understanding of climatological processes (from the global scale down to microscale). With this knowledge, NCDC's clients can continue to learn from the past to prepare for the future.
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January 8, 2002 —
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