The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) was created by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...
(NOAA) to operate and manage the United States environmental satellite programs, and manage the data gathered by the
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...
and other government agencies and departments.
History
In August 1980, the National Earth Satellite Service (NESS) was removed from the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Services and became a principal agency line organization in NOAA with an Assistant Administrator who reported directly to the Administrator. This move reflected the increasing importance of satellite observations to NOAA's environmental science and service responsibilities. It was largely precipitated by a decision by the Carter Administration in November 1979 to assign NOAA management responsibility for all civil operational remote sensing from space. NESDIS was formed in 1982 with the merger of NESS and the Environmental Data Service.
NESDIS has managed operational polar orbiting satellites (POES) since 1966. Additionally, NESDIS has managed operational
geosynchronous satellites
A geosynchronous satellite is a satellite in geosynchronous orbit, with an orbital period the same as the Earth's rotation period. Such a satellite returns to the same position in the sky after each sidereal day, and over the course of a day t ...
(GOES) satellites since 1974. New generations of satellites are being developed to succeed the current polar orbiting and geosynchronous satellites: the
Joint Polar Satellite System
The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is the latest generation of U.S. polar-orbiting, non-geosynchronous, environmental satellites. JPSS will provide the global environmental data used in numerical weather prediction models for forecasts, and ...
) and
GOES-R
GOES-16, formerly known as GOES-R before reaching geostationary orbit, is the first of the GOES-R series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...
. The first satellite in the GOES-R series is scheduled for launch in October 2016.
JPSS-1 successfully launched on November 18, 2017.
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
OSTM/Jason-2, or Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite, was an international Earth observation satellite altimeter joint mission for sea surface height measurements between NASA and CNES. It was the third satellite in a series ...
, and
DSCOVR
Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR; formerly known as Triana, unofficially known as GoreSat) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) space weather, space climate, and Earth observation satellite. It was launched by S ...
. Since May 1998 NESIDS has operated the
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) monitors meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics for the United States Department of Defense. The program is managed by the United States Space Force with on-orbit operati ...
(DMSP) satellites on behalf of the
Air Force Weather Agency.
Organization
NESDIS's
National Centers for Environmental Information
The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), an agency of the United States government, manages one of the world's largest archives of atmospheric, coastal, geophysical, and oceanic data, containing information that ranges from t ...
(NCEI) archives data collected by the NOAA,
U.S. Navy,
U.S. Air Force, the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
, and meteorological services around the world. NCEI is a merger of NOAA's
National Climatic Data Center
The United States National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), previously known as the National Weather Records Center (NWRC), in Asheville, North Carolina, was the world's largest active archive of weather data. Starting as a tabulation unit in New Or ...
, National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC),
National Oceanographic Data Center
The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) was one of the national environmental data centers operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The main NODC facility was located in Sil ...
(NODC), and
National Geophysical Data Center
The United States National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provided scientific stewardship, products and services for geophysical data describing the solid earth, marine, and solar-terrestrial environment, as well as earth observations from spa ...
(NGDC)).
NESDIS also runs the:
Office of Projects, Planning, and Analysis (OPPA)formerly the Office of Systems Development (OSD)
Office of Satellite Ground Systems (OSGS)formerly the Office of Satellite Operations (OSO)
formerly the Office of Satellite Data Processing & Distribution (OSDPD)
Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR)formerly the Office of Research & Applications
Joint Polar Satellite System Program Office*
GOES-R
GOES-16, formerly known as GOES-R before reaching geostationary orbit, is the first of the GOES-R series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...
Program Office
International & Interagency Affairs Office*
Office of Space Commerce
The Office of Space Commerce is an office within the United States Department of Commerce. It is currently one of several offices within the department that are responsible for overseeing and promoting economic activity in space. The office is sma ...
Office of System Architecture and Advanced Planning (OSAAP)Coral Reef Conservation Program(CRCP)
*
Coral Reef Watch(CRW)
*
Coral Reef Information System(CoRIS)
In 1960,
TIROS-1
TIROS-1 (or TIROS-A) was the first full-scale weather satellite (the Vanguard 2 satellite was the first experimental/prototype weather satellite), the first of a series of Television Infrared Observation Satellites placed in low Earth orbit.
P ...
, NASA's first owned and operated satellite, was launched. In 1983, NOAA assumed operational responsibility for
Landsat
The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA / USGS program. On 23 July 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually renamed to L ...
satellite system.
See also
References
External links
*
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Earth sciences organizations
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Earth sciences software infrastructure organizations
Scientific organizations based in the United States