About

Who We Are

We are the Nation’s leading authority for environmental data and manage one of the largest archives of atmospheric, coastal, geophysical, and oceanic research in the world. NCEI contributes to the NESDIS mission by developing new products and services that span the science disciplines and enable better data discovery.

Why It Matters

NCEI helps NOAA meet the growing need for high value data by supporting projects such as the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, NOAA's Blue Economy, and Climate-Ready Nation Initiatives. Our stewardship practices maximize NOAA’s investment in environmental research, converting scientific insights into dynamic, usable information that informs strategy and decision-making in government, academia, and the private sector.

As the Nation’s treasure of Earth observations grows, our scientists ensure that analyses, methods, and data sets evolve along with that growth. Our engagement professionals ensure partner agencies and the public get usable information they need when they need it.

Together with our data providers, data users, and our partners, NCEI builds and draws lasting value from NOAA and the world's observations from the seafloor to the surface of the sun. Our work informs a nation that is more prosperous, more resilient, and more just.

Data in Action

NCEI data helps businesses and organizations across sectors operate more efficiently, safely, environmentally, and economically.

Data Management

The NCEI archive and backup copy contains more than 55 petabytes of data.

Industry and Agriculture

U.S. corn farmers used our temperature and precipitation data to strategically deploy fertilizer, saving the industry about $4 billion annually.

Products

NCEI offers users access to over 26,000 datasets and products.

View All Products

Case Studies

Leadership

Deke Arndt

Director

Deke Arndt became NCEI's Director on January 30, 2023 after serving as Chief of NCEI's Climatic Science and Services Division (CSSD) for three years. He previously lead the CSSD Monitoring Section. Deke’s career began in 1996 at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. He worked closely with public safety, agriculture, climate monitoring, the energy generation and transmission sectors. In recent years, he served on the Council of the American Meteorological Society, was a co-lead editor of the AMS's annual State of the Climate report, and co-chaired the US Global Change Research Program's Interagency Indicators Working Group.

Joe Pica

Deputy Director

Joe Pica assumed the role of NCEI Deputy Director in 2018 after a three-year stint as Director of the National Weather Service (NWS) Office of Observations, where he oversaw data collection operations to ensure accurate, comprehensive national forecasts. Before joining the NWS, Joe served as Commanding Officer of the NOAA Ships Ronald H. Brown and Okeanos Explorer, respectively the flagship and most technologically advanced vessels in the NOAA fleet. Between sea assignments, he brought operational, technical, and leadership skills to a variety of federal assignments including Deputy Director of the former National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and Executive Director to the Deputy Under Secretary for Operations.

Scott Hausman

Chief, Information Technology Services Division

Scott Hausman became Chief of NCEI IT services in 2017 after two years as Director of NCEI Data Stewardship. Dr. Hausman previously served as Acting Director and Deputy Director of the former National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and as the Director of the Global Systems Division of the Earth Systems Research Laboratory (ESRL). His 24-year career with the U.S. Air Force included command of the 14th Weather Squadron providing climatological support to the Department of Defense, intelligence community, and other federal agencies.

Eric Kihn

Chief, Oceanographic And Geophysical Science And Services Division

Eric Kihn is the Chief of the Oceanographic and Geophysical Science and Services Division (OGSSD), taking the role in 2018 after serving as acting Director of the NGDC. Over more than 25 years of NOAA service, he was a researcher, group leader, and professional data manager whose efforts led or contributed to the development of projects like Space Weather Analysis (SWA), and two award-winning analytic systems in the Space Physics Interactive Data Resource and the Environmental Scenario Generator. He heads the World Data Service for Geophysics and actively contributes to the Earth System Information Partners professional organization.

Jen Mootz

Chief, Support Services Division

Jen Mootz is the chief of NCEI’s Support Services Division. She possesses more than twenty years of experience, including strategic planning, business process management and improvement, performance management, and resource management. She worked at all echelons of the Department of Defense both in the continental United States and overseas. Since 2008, she served as an examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige Award for Performance Excellence helping both private and public sectors across all industries deliver value to their customers and stakeholders and realize their performance improvement goals.

Monica Youngman

Chief, Data Stewardship Division

Monica Youngman joined NCEI as Chief of Data Stewardship (DSD) in 2018 to manage the growing archive of environmental data under NCEI care. She led substantial, complex stewardship projects during her 10-year NOAA career, managing data collection, software development, metadata procedures, and archival processes for the National Geodetic Survey office’s multi-million dollar Gravity Program, as well as the Gravity for Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) project.

Locations

NCEI has four national locations, as well as regional centers, field sites, and cooperative institutes throughout the country.

Asheville, North Carolina

Boulder, Colorado

Silver Spring, Maryland

Stennis Space Center, MS

Learn More About NCEI's National Locations

Who We Are

Why It Matters