The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA / ˈn oʊ . ə / NOH-ə) is a United States government agency that studies and manages weather, ocean, and air conditions. It creates maps of the oceans, explores the deep sea, and helps protect marine animals and endangered species in areas of the ocean near the United States. NOAA is part of the United States Department of Commerce and has its main office in Silver Spring, Maryland.

History

NOAA began with several older government agencies. These include:

• United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, created in 1807
• Weather Bureau of the United States, created in 1870
• Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, created in 1871 (only for research ships)
• Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, created in 1917

The direct ancestor of NOAA was the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA). ESSA combined several scientific agencies, including the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Weather Bureau, and the uniformed Corps, in 1965.

NOAA was created in the Department of Commerce through Reorganization Plan No. 4. It officially started on October 3, 1970, after President Richard Nixon proposed forming a new agency to better protect people and property from natural dangers, improve understanding of the environment, and explore ocean resources.

NOAA is part of the Department of Commerce instead of the Department of Interior because of a disagreement between President Nixon and his Interior Secretary, Wally Hickel, about the Nixon Administration’s Vietnam War policy. Nixon was upset with Hickel’s letter urging him to listen to Vietnam War protesters and decided not to place NOAA under the Interior Department.

In 2007, NOAA celebrated 200 years of service as the successor to the U.S. Survey of the Coast.

In 2021, NOAA had 11,833 civilian workers. Its research and operations also included 321 uniformed service members who were part of the NOAA Commissioned Corps.

In 2024, Project 2025 proposed to eliminate the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which would end NOAA’s research division.

NOAA has had many changes during the second presidency of Donald Trump. On February 27, 2025, several hundred NOAA employees, mostly new hires, were let go after staff from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) entered NOAA’s headquarters. By early March, 1,300 NOAA workers (about 10% of the total workforce) were let go.

In June 2025, the Department of Defense announced it would stop sharing important weather data with scientists and forecasters, including NOAA staff.

Organizational structure

Since 1993, NOAA's main office has been located at the Silver Spring Metro Center in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. The complex includes four buildings covering 1.2 million square feet and was built in 1993. It houses more than 40 NOAA sub-agencies and offices, including the National Weather Service.

Neil Jacobs was appointed as Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator on October 7, 2025, and took over shortly after. Before this, Laura Grimm served as Acting Under Secretary since March 31, 2025. Prior to that, Nancy Hann held the role after Rick Spinrad resigned on January 20, 2025.

Before becoming NOAA Administrator, Neil Jacobs worked as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction. He served as acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and as NOAA's interim administrator from February 25, 2019, to January 20, 2021, during the first Trump Administration. Jacobs replaced Timothy Gallaudet, who had replaced Benjamin Friedman. All three held interim leadership roles during that time.

NOAA was created in 1970 by an executive order and has never been established by law, even though it plays a vital role. In January 2023, The Washington Post reported that Congressman Frank Lucas, chair of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, proposed making NOAA an independent agency instead of part of the Commerce Department. Lucas said this was to ensure NOAA received proper funding, as Republican leaders had indicated they would reduce support for programs not reauthorized by Congress.

NOAA works toward its mission through six main offices: the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the National Ocean Service (NOS), the National Weather Service (NWS), the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). NOAA also has more than a dozen staff offices, including the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology and the NOAA Central Library.

The National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, and surrounding waters. This helps protect lives and property and supports the economy. The NWS uses national and regional centers, 13 river forecast centers, and over 120 local weather offices. These offices issue daily forecasts, advisories, watches, and warnings. Annually, they produce more than 734,000 weather forecasts, 850,000 river forecasts, and 45,000 severe weather warnings. NOAA data is also used to study climate change and ozone depletion.

The NWS operates NEXRAD, a network of Doppler weather radars that track precipitation and its movement. Many NWS products are broadcast through NOAA Weather Radio, a 24-hour radio network that provides weather forecasts and warnings.

The National Ocean Service (NOS) works to ensure that ocean and coastal areas are safe, healthy, and productive. NOS scientists, managers, and specialists help with marine transportation, protect coastal communities, and conserve marine and coastal areas.

The NOS includes 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.

Two NOS programs are the Mussel Watch Contaminant Monitoring Program and the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Two staff offices include the International Program Office and the Management and Budget Office.

The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) manages U.S. environmental satellite programs and handles data from the National Weather Service and other government agencies. NESDIS’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives data collected by NOAA, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration, and global meteorological services. NCEI includes the Center for Weather and Climate, the National Coastal Data Development Center, the National Oceanographic Data Center, and the National Geophysical Data Center.

In 1960, NASA launched TIROS-1, the first geostationary satellite. Since 1966, NESDIS has managed polar-orbiting satellites (POES). Since 1974, it has operated geosynchronous satellites (GOES). In 1979, NOAA launched its first polar-orbiting environmental satellite. 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 took responsibility for the Landsat satellite system.

Since 1998, NESDIS has operated the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites for the Air Force Weather Agency. New satellite systems, such as the Joint Polar Satellite System and GOES-R, are being developed to replace older satellites. GOES-R launched in November 2016.

NESDIS manages several offices, including the Office of Projects, Planning, and Analysis, the Office of Satellite Ground Systems, 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.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), also known as NOAA Fisheries, was established in 1871 to research, protect, manage, and restore commercial and recreational fisheries, their habitats, and protected species. NMFS operates 12 headquarters offices, 5 regional offices, 6 fisheries science centers, and more than 20 laboratories across the United States and its territories. The NMFS also runs the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement in Silver Spring, Maryland, which enforces marine resource laws.

NOAA’s research, led by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), supports environmental products and services that protect lives and property and promote economic growth. Research focuses on understanding weather events like tornadoes and hurricanes

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

In 2001, Susan Solomon became the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's working group on climate science. She worked at NOAA's offices in Boulder, Colorado, and was an atmospheric chemist. With co-chair Qin Dahe of Working Group 1, she helped create the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4, 2007). Susan Solomon, along with other IPCC scientists and Vice President Al Gore, received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Hurricane Dorian controversy

Hurricane Dorian was a very strong and damaging tropical storm that caused serious harm to the northwestern Bahamas and damaged parts of the southeastern United States and Atlantic Canada in September 2019. On September 1, NOAA said that the "current path of Dorian does not include Alabama." However, on the same day, President Donald Trump tweeted that Alabama and other states "will most likely be hit (much) harder than expected."

Soon after, the National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, posted a message saying that Alabama "will NOT see any impacts from Dorian." On September 6, NOAA released a statement from a person who did not give their name, supporting Trump's September 1 claim. The statement also said that the Birmingham office's message was incorrect. The New York Times reported that the NOAA statement on September 6 happened because U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to fire NOAA staff unless they supported Trump's claim. The Department of Commerce called this report "false."

At the same time, The Washington Post reported that NOAA told National Weather Service employees twice not to give any opinions about Hurricane Dorian and to only follow official forecasts from the National Hurricane Center. The first order came after Trump's September 1 comments and the Birmingham office's message. The second order happened on September 4 after Trump shared a map from August 29 that had been changed with a black marker to show Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama.

On September 9, the Director of the National Weather Service spoke at a meeting in Alabama and supported the Birmingham office. He said the team "stopped public panic" and "ensured public safety." He added that the Birmingham office did not know the messages they sent were a result of Trump's tweet. The acting chief scientist and assistant administrator for ocean and atmospheric research said he is "pursuing the potential violations" of the agency's scientific integrity policy.

Flag

The NOAA flag was created based on the flag of an earlier organization called the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. The Coast and Geodetic Survey's flag, approved in 1899 and used until 1970, was blue with a white circle in the center. Inside the circle was a red triangle. This design represented the use of triangulation in surveying work, and the flag was flown by ships of the Survey.

When NOAA was formed in 1970, the Coast and Geodetic Survey's resources became part of NOAA. NOAA used the Coast and Geodetic Survey's flag as a base for its own. The NOAA flag is similar to the older flag, but it includes the NOAA logo. The logo is a circle divided by the shape of a seabird into an upper dark blue section and a lower light blue section. The word "NOAA" is not included on the logo. The NOAA flag is displayed by NOAA ships. Ships with one mast fly the flag right below their commissioning pennant or the personal flag of a civilian official or military officer if one is on board. Ships with more than one mast fly the flag at the top of the frontmost mast. NOAA ships use the same flag as United States Navy ships, but they fly the NOAA flag to show they are different from Navy ships.