National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an agency of the United States Department of
Commerce. NOAA operates a network of weather satellites, the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, and cooperates with the National Ice Center.
NOAA
The NOAA has a two-fold mission:
- Environmental assessment and prediction—to observe and assess the state of our environment, while protecting public
safety and the United States' economic and environmental security through
accurate forecasting.
- Environmental stewardship—protect ocean, coastal and living marine resources while assisting their economic
development.
NOAA data are relevant to the issues of global warming and ozone depletion.
NOAA has a uniformed branch called the NOAA
Corps
History
Various forerunner organisations existed [1] , but NOAA was
created within Dept of Commerce in 1970 combining Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U. S. Weather Bureau, Coast and Geodetic
Survey, and Environmental Data Service, National Satellite Center, Research Libraries, among others. In 1975 GOES-1, NOAA's first
owned and operated geostationary satellite was launched. In 1977 the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) deployed the
first successful moored equatorial current meter - the beginning of the Tropical Atmosphere/ Ocean (TAO) array. in 1979 NOAA's
first polar-orbiting environmental satellite was launched. In 1982 the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) was established.
In 1983 NOAA assumed operational responsibility for LANDSAT satellite system. In 1984 the Tropical Ocean-Global
Atmosphere program (TOGA) programme began. After this, see [2] .
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