What NOAA Climate does

NOAA Climate is the climate-focused operational arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a U.S. federal agency under the Department of Commerce established in 1970 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The organization provides authoritative climate data, monitoring, forecasting, and public-information services to U.S. communities, the scientific research community, federal and state government agencies, and weather-dependent industries including agriculture, shipping, energy, and construction. Its core product surface includes year-end global temperature and precipitation analysis, monthly climate reports, ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) tracking, drought monitoring via Drought.gov, heat monitoring via Heat.gov, and a broad suite of public-facing data and tools distributed at no cost.

The underlying technology stack is built around high-performance computing infrastructure that is capital-intensive and not commercially replicable on equivalent terms. NOAA operates the Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System (WCOSS), consisting of twin supercomputers delivering 14.5 petaflops each (upgraded Summer 2023), with a cloud-first partnership announced with Google Cloud in July 2026 using H4D VMs powered by fifth-generation AMD Epyc processors. A dedicated $100 million GPU supercomputer called Rhea, funded in September 2024, supports AI and machine learning workloads. Observation infrastructure includes a comprehensive satellite network, the Argo buoy fleet (3+ million ocean temperature profiles as of 2024), and atmospheric gas measurement systems tracking 55 gases. In May 2026, National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) environmental data was migrated to cloud infrastructure for on-demand public access.

NOAA Climate operates as a public-good entity rather than a commercial business. It is funded entirely through annual Congressional appropriations under the Department of Commerce and provides all data, forecasts, and tools free of charge to end users. Additional programmatic funding flows through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The agency's operations are governed by federal statute (15 USC § 2904, 15 USC § 2934, 33 USC § 893a) and, as of June 2025, by Executive Order 14303 and the White House OSTP Gold Standard Science Memorandum, which redirected Climate.gov users to NOAA.gov/climate. The organization serves 251-500 employees and operates globally through satellite data broadcasts, web portals, and now cloud-based delivery channels.

Name

NOAA Climate

Legal name

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Website

https://climate.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

NOAA Climate is the U.S. federal government's authoritative source for climate data, monitoring, and forecasting, operating under the Department of Commerce and providing free public data, forecasts, and tools to U.S. communities, researchers, government agencies, and weather-dependent industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Climate and Weather Services

NAICS

Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241), Space Research and Technology (92711), Space Research and Technology (927110), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate & Emissions Data Management (Data Lake, Integration, APIs) (EUABAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Climate & GHG/Emissions Modeling & Scenario Analysis (Inventories, Projections, Net-Zero Pathways) (EUAHAKAH), Climate Risk & Scenario Analysis (TCFD/IFRS S2) (EUAHAJAD), Downscaled Climate Projections & Scenario Analytics (CMIP, SSP/RCP, Regionalization) (EUABALAB), Environmental, Climate & Sustainability Standards & Reporting Cooperation (BPADANAI), Benchmarking, Ratings & Stakeholder Reporting Portals (Scorecards, Dashboards) (EUABAEAJ)

Keywords

• Climate monitoring services
• Weather forecasting data
• Oceanographic data analysis
• Environmental monitoring tools
• Atmospheric research data

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. U.S. Government Appropriations: NOAA is funded through annual appropriations from the U.S. Department of Commerce as a federal agency. Revenue comes from Congressional budget allocations rather than commercial sales.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NOAA Climate provides authoritative climate, weather, ocean, and coastal data, forecasts, and monitoring tools to help the public, researchers, and government agencies understand, prepare for, and adapt to changing climate conditions. Its offerings include global temperature and precipitation analysis, ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) tracking, drought and heat monitoring, hurricane and extreme weather forecasting, and access to environmental data through specialized portals, all delivered as free public goods.

Product overview

NOAA Climate is a U.S. government agency providing a unified platform of climate data, monitoring tools, and information services. The core offering includes climate monitoring and forecasting capabilities, supported by specialized sub-portals such as Drought.gov and Heat.gov that deliver targeted disaster-specific information. NOAA distributes environmental data through cloud infrastructure for on-demand public access, serving communities, researchers, and government agencies in understanding and responding to climate-related challenges including flooding, fire, heat, hurricanes, and drought.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Drought.gov: Portal providing drought monitoring and prediction data and tools
• Heat.gov
• National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
• WCOSS
• Rhea

Products and services

• NOAA Climate Data and Information Core NOAA service providing climate data, tools, and information to help communities, researchers, and government agencies understand, prepare for, and adapt to changing climate conditions through weather forecasting, disaster tracking, and environmental monitoring.
• Drought.gov Specialized portal providing drought monitoring data, forecasts, and resources for drought preparedness and response across the United States.
• Heat.gov Specialized portal offering heat forecasting, warnings, and public health information for extreme heat preparedness and response.
• Climate Monitoring and Forecasting Tools NOAA's climate monitoring tools provide year-end global temperature and precipitation analysis, monthly reports, ENSO tracking (La Niña/El Niño monitoring), and long-range climate predictions for public and research use.
• National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) NOAA center responsible for preserving, managing, and disseminating comprehensive environmental data to the public and research community.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tracked 396 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters from 1980-August 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Google CloudcoreTechnology or Integration · 28 July 2026NOAA selected Google Cloud as its primary high-performance computing provider for the Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System (WCOSS). This marks a shift from traditional on-premises infrastructure to a cloud-first approach. Google Cloud's H4D VMs with fifth-generation AMD Epyc processors serve as the computing backbone for NOAA's daily weather, ocean, and climate forecast models.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD): Germany's national meteorological service operating ICON/DWD numerical models on supercomputers and providing public climate/weather data. Comparable to NOAA in mandate, supercomputing infrastructure, and free public distribution model.
• UK Met Office: United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. Direct functional peer to NOAA Climate: operates supercomputing for numerical weather prediction, maintains long continuous climate records, and delivers public climate data products and forecasts to government, research, and public users.
• Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): Japanese national meteorological agency operating weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and supercomputing-based numerical prediction. Direct functional peer in providing authoritative public weather/climate services and long-term climate records.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada: Canadian federal department responsible for weather, climate, and environmental monitoring. Direct counterpart to NOAA Climate in mandate, supercomputing-based forecasting, and public climate services delivery within North America.
• Bureau of Meteorology (Australia): Australian national weather, climate, and ocean agency operating supercomputing-based numerical prediction and authoritative public climate services. Direct functional equivalent covering the Southern Hemisphere and ENSO monitoring.
• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF): Intergovernmental organization providing medium-range and seasonal forecasts to 23 member states. Comparable to NOAA in operating high-resolution global forecast models on supercomputers, distributing climate reanalysis (ERA5), and serving as an authoritative intergovernmental climate data source.

Emerging players

• Climate Central: U.S.-based non-profit producing climate research, visualizations, and applied analytics (e.g., Sea Level Rise mapper, Climate Shift Index). Uses NOAA datasets and produces climate-impact analyses for media and policy audiences in a directly adjacent role.

Broad incumbents

• AccuWeather: Commercial weather forecasting company that ingests NOAA/NWS data to produce proprietary forecasts for consumers, media, and enterprise. Broader commercial focus but directly downstream of NOAA's public data infrastructure.
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Earth Sciences Division): Operates Earth-observing satellites (e.g., MODIS, GPM) and produces global climate datasets directly complementary to NOAA's satellite and reanalysis products. Broader agency scope but materially overlaps with NOAA's Earth observation and climate monitoring mission.

Others

• World Meteorological Organization (WMO): UN agency coordinating international cooperation on climate and weather standards, data exchange, and observing systems. Not a direct operational peer but the supranational coordinating body of which NOAA's international work is a component.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NOAAClimate
• YouTubeyoutube.com/noaa
• Facebookfacebook.com/NOAAClimateGov
• Instagraminstagram.com/noaa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NOAA Climate