National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a United States scientific and regulatory agency tasked with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the US exclusive economic zone. The agency is part of the United States Department of Commerce and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.
History
Founding
NOAA traces its history back to multiple agencies, some of which are among the earliest in the federal government:- United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, formed in 1807
- Weather Bureau of the United States, formed in 1870
- Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, formed in 1871
- Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, formed in 1917
20th century
NOAA was established within the Department of Commerce via the Reorganization Plan No. 4, and formed on October 3, 1970, after U.S. President Richard Nixon proposed creating a new agency to serve a national need for "better protection of life and property from natural hazards... for a better understanding of the total environment... for exploration and development leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources".
NOAA is a part of the Department of Commerce rather than the Department of Interior, because of a feud between President Nixon and his interior secretary, Wally Hickel, over the Nixon Administration's Vietnam War policy. Nixon did not like Hickel's letter urging Nixon to listen to the Vietnam War demonstrators, and punished Hickel by not putting NOAA in the Interior Department.
21st century
In 2007, NOAA celebrated 200 years of service in its role as successor to the U.S. Survey of the Coast.In 2021, NOAA had 11,833 civilian employees. Its research and operations are further supported by 321 uniformed service members, who made up the NOAA Commissioned Corps.
In 2024, Project 2025 proposed to get rid of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which would "dismantle" NOAA's research division.
NOAA has experienced numerous changes under the second presidency of Donald Trump. On February 27, 2025, several hundred NOAA staffers, mainly probationary, were laid off after staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency entered the headquarters of NOAA. By early March, 1,300 NOAA staff members were laid off.
In June, 2025, the Department of Defense announced it would no longer provide critical weather data to scientists and forecasters, including to NOAA staff.
Organizational structure
Silver Spring Campus
Since 1993, NOAA's administrative headquarters has been located at the Silver Spring Metro Center office complex in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. The consolidated, four-building campus was constructed in 1993 and is home to over 40 NOAA sub-agencies and offices, including the National Weather Service.Administrator
was confirmed as Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator on Oct 7th, 2025 and he took over shortly thereafter. Prior to that, NOAA Chief of Staff Laura Grimm had been the Acting Under Secretary since March 31, 2025 and prior to that Nancy Hann had held this role following the change of administrations on January 20, 2025 when Rick Spinrad resigned.Neil Jacobs, then Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, served as acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the US Department of Commerce and as NOAA's interim administrator from February 25, 2019, to January 20, 2021 during the first Trump Administration. Jacobs succeeded Timothy Gallaudet, who succeeded Benjamin Friedman. The three served in series as NOAA's interim administrator throughout the first Trump Administration.
Independent agency proposal
NOAA was created by an executive order in 1970 and has never been established in law, despite its critical role. In January 2023, The Washington Post reported that Congressman Frank Lucas, the new chair of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, had released draft legislation to make NOAA an independent agency, rather than it being part of the Commerce Department. Lucas' push was in response to Republican leaders who had signaled plans to slash funding for agencies and programs that continued to receive annual appropriations, but had not been reauthorized by Congress. "It's been made quite clear in the Republican conference that my friends don't want to fund programs that are not properly authorized," said Lucas. "NOAA is very important, so we need to get it authorized."Services
NOAA works toward its mission through six major line offices: the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean Service, the National Weather Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. NOAA has more than a dozen staff offices, including the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, the NOAA Central Library, the Office of Program Planning and Integration.National Weather Service
The National Weather Service is tasked with providing "weather, hydrologic and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy", according to NOAA. This is done through a collection of national and regional centers, 13 river forecast centers, and more than 120 local weather forecast offices. They are charged with issuing weather and river forecasts, advisories, watches, and warnings on a daily basis. They issue more than 734,000 weather and 850,000 river forecasts, and more than 45,000 severe weather warnings annually. NOAA data is also relevant to the issues of climate change and ozone depletion.The NWS operates NEXRAD, a nationwide network of Doppler weather radars which can detect precipitation and their velocities. Many of their products are broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio, a network of radio transmitters that broadcasts weather forecasts, severe weather statements, watches and warnings 24 hours a day.
National Ocean Service
The National Ocean Service focuses on ensuring that ocean and coastal areas are safe, healthy, and productive. NOS scientists, natural resource managers, and specialists serve America by ensuring safe and efficient marine transportation, promoting innovative solutions to protect coastal communities, and conserving marine and coastal places.The National Ocean Service is composed of eight program offices: the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, the Office for Coastal Management, the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the Office of Coast Survey, the Office of National Geodetic Survey, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, and the Office of Response and Restoration.
There are two NOS programs, the Mussel Watch Contaminant Monitoring Program and the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System. There are two staff offices, the International Program Office and the Management and Budget Office.
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service was created by NOAA to operate and manage the US environmental satellite programs, and manage NWS data and those of other government agencies and departments. NESDIS's National Centers for Environmental Information archives data collected by the NOAA, United States Navy, United States Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration, and meteorological services around the world. It comprises the Center for Weather and Climate, previously NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, the National Coastal Data Development Center, the National Oceanographic Data Center, and the National Geophysical Data Center ).In 1960, TIROS-1, NASA's first owned and operated geostationary satellite, was launched. Since 1966, NESDIS has managed polar orbiting satellites. Since 1974, it has operated geosynchronous satellites. In 1979, NOAA's first polar-orbiting environmental satellite was launched. Current operational satellites include NOAA-15, NOAA-18, NOAA-19, GOES 13, GOES 14, GOES 15, Jason-2, DSCOVR and SWO-F1. In 1983, NOAA assumed operational responsibility for the Landsat satellite system.
Since May 1998, NESDIS has operated the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites on behalf of the Air Force Weather Agency.
New generations of satellites are developed to succeed the current polar orbiting and geosynchronous satellites, the Joint Polar Satellite System, and GOES-R, which launched in November 2016.
NESDIS runs the Office of Projects, Planning, and Analysis formerly the Office of Systems Development, the Office of Satellite Ground Systems the Office of Satellite and Project Operations, the Center for Satellite Applications and Research ], the Joint Polar Satellite System Program Office the GOES-R Program Office, the International & Interagency Affairs Office, the Office of Space Commerce and the Office of System Architecture and Advanced Planning.