The United States National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provided scientific stewardship, products and services for

geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

describing the

solid earth Solid earth refers to "the earth beneath our feet" or '' terra firma'', the planet's solid surface and its interior. It excludes the Earth's fluid envelopes, the atmosphere and hydrosphere (but includes the ocean basin), as well as the biosphere ...

, marine, and solar-terrestrial environment, as well as earth observations from

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

. It was established in 1965 as part of the new Environmental Science Services Administration until that organization became the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1970. In 2015, NGDC was merged with the

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. In 2015, the NCDC merged with two other ...

(NCDC) and the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the

National Centers for Environmental Information The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is a U.S. government agency that manages one of the world's largest archives of atmospheric, coastal, geophysical, and oceanic data. The current director is Deke Arndt. NCEI is operate ...

(NCEI).

Location and controlling bodies

Since 1972 the NGDC was located in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

as a part of the US Department of Commerce (USDOC), National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS).

Data holdings

NGDC's data holdings contained more than 300

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

and analog

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

s, with over 37 terabytes of unique digital records plus paper, film, slides and microfilm in 2003. National Research Council (2003
''Review of NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center''
National Academies Press As technology advanced, so did the search for more efficient ways of preserving these data. This data is now maintained by the NCEI.

Data contributors

NGDC worked closely with contributors of scientific data to prepare documented, reliable data sets. They welcomed cooperative projects with other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and universities, and encourage data exchange.

Data users

NGDC's data users included: * private industry * universities and other educational facilities * research organizations * federal, state, and local governments * foreign governments, industry, and academia * publishers and other mass media * the general public

Data management

The Data Center developed data management programs that reflect the changing world of

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

. These programs are now part of the

References

{{Authority control National Geophysical Data Center