National Centers for Environmental Information

What National Centers for Environmental Information does

NCEI is a U.S. federal government agency operating under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the Department of Commerce, formed in 2015 through the consolidation of three legacy NOAA data centers: the National Climatic Data Center, the National Geophysical Data Center, and the National Oceanographic Data Center. The agency maintains one of the largest environmental data archives on Earth, ingesting more than 229 terabytes of data per month from over 130 observing platforms and offering free public access to oceanic, atmospheric, and geophysical datasets spanning from 1772 to the present. Its product portfolio includes the World Ocean Database (over 18.6 million oceanographic casts, 3.13 billion profile measurements), the World Magnetic Model and its high-resolution variant (the standard navigation model for U.S. DoD, UK MoD, NATO, FAA, and IHO), the Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly, the Sea Ice Concentration CDR, the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Watch, the Billion-Dollar Disasters Database, the Arctic Regional Climatology, and the modernized Bathymetric Data Viewer. Underlying technology rests on data archive infrastructure, spherical harmonic modeling for geomagnetic fields, near-real-time contour mapping, and self-serve web distribution through WODselect, map viewers, and an online store.

The agency serves scientific researchers, government agencies, navigation systems users (military, aviation, maritime, consumer electronics), commercial fishing interests, climate monitoring organizations, and the general public. Because NCEI is a federal data service, its revenue model is not commercial — operations are funded through federal appropriations and all data is provided free of charge, with go-to-market executed via a self-serve global website, social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram), an RSS news feed, and monthly climate reports. Recognized customer relationships include NOAA Fisheries, NOAA CoastWatch, the National Tsunami Warning Center, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE), the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP), the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the British Geological Survey (BGS), and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES).

Name

National Centers for Environmental Information

Legal name

National Centers for Environmental Information

Website

https://ncei.noaa.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

NCEI is a U.S. federal agency within NOAA that maintains one of the world's largest environmental data archives, serving scientists, government agencies, defense/aviation navigation users, and the public with free oceanic, atmospheric, geophysical, and climate data products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Environmental Data Services

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

National Statistics & Census Administration (BPAIAAAF)

Keywords

• Environmental data services
• Climate monitoring
• Oceanographic data
• Climate data records
• Geophysical data

Headquarters

HQ city

Asheville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Public Data Services: As a federal government agency under NOAA, NCEI provides free public access to environmental data. Revenue is derived from federal appropriations and government budgets, not commercial revenue generation. Data is made freely available to the public, researchers, and commercial sectors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NCEI is a U.S. federal government agency that maintains one of the most significant environmental data archives on Earth, archiving over 229 terabytes of data each month from more than 130 observing platforms. It provides free public access to comprehensive oceanic, atmospheric, and geophysical data spanning from 1772 to the present, including climate data records, the World Ocean Database, the World Magnetic Model, and bathymetric data, delivered through online platforms, map viewers, and regular climate reports.

Product overview

NCEI operates as a federal data center offering a comprehensive suite of environmental data products and services. The portfolio centers on three core data archives: the World Ocean Database (containing ocean profile data), the Global Historical Climatology Network (land surface temperature), and the Bathymetric Data Viewer (underwater terrain mapping). Supporting products include specialized Climate Data Records such as Sea Ice Concentration CDR, geomagnetic models (World Magnetic Model and WMM-High Resolution), Arctic Regional Climatology, and the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Watch program. The organization also produces climate monitoring reports, billion-dollar disaster tracking, and the World Ocean Atlas climatologies. Data access is provided through multiple interfaces including WODselect for the World Ocean Database, various map viewers for geospatial products, and monthly/seasonal climate reports.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Global surface temperatures in June 2026 were 1.96°F (1.09°C) above the 20th-century average—the second-warmest June on record
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• British Geological Survey (BGS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development partner for the World Magnetic Model (WMM). BGS develops and distributes WMM in partnership with NCEI, with WMM being a joint product of the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the U.K. Defence Geographic Centre (DGC).
• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCEI receives support from CIRES for development, maintenance, and distribution of the World Magnetic Model and other geomagnetic data products.
• NOAA FisheriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner in the Gulf of America Hypoxia Watch program, working with NCEI and NOAA CoastWatch to monitor hypoxic zones in the Gulf of Mexico annually.
• NOAA CoastWatch–Caribbean/Gulf of America–Regional NodecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative project partner for Gulf Dead Zone monitoring, transmitting data from research vessels to NCEI for processing and visualization.
• Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCombined state/federal/university program conducting annual hypoxia survey aboard NOAA Research Vessel Oregon II, collecting CTD data transmitted to NCEI.
• International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld Ocean Database is an NCEI product and an IODE project, with international organizations facilitating data exchanges that have provided much data to the WOD.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)coreTechnology or IntegrationNSIDC archives sea ice thickness data from the USS Jeannette expedition and other historical data, collaborating with NCEI on Arctic products including Sea Ice Concentration CDR and Sea Ice Index.
• U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration of more than a dozen federal departments and agencies contributing to public scientific knowledge. NCEI contributes to climate indicators that underpin the National Climate Assessment.
• International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWMM is the standard model used by IHO for navigation, attitude, and heading referencing systems using the geomagnetic field.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• British Geological Survey (BGS): Co-develops the World Magnetic Model with NCEI and distributes it on behalf of the UK Defence Geographic Centre. BGS mirrors NCEI's role as a national geological/geomagnetic data archive and is a direct counterpart in international navigation-data stewardship.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC): An existing NCEI partner that archives Arctic sea ice and cryospheric data and co-produces sea ice indices. NSIDC operates a closely related federally funded cryospheric data archive with similar scientific user base and data stewardship model.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): A fellow U.S. federal science agency stewarding complementary geophysical, hydrological, and Earth-observation data. USGS shares overlapping user communities (researchers, emergency management) and contributes environmental data feeding NCEI's geophysical products.
• UK Met Office: The UK's national meteorological agency producing climate records, monthly/annual climate reports, and reanalysis data that parallel NCEI's GHCN-Monthly and U.S. climate reports. Both serve as official government climate reference sources.
• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF): An intergovernmental organization producing global atmospheric reanalyses (ERA5) and ocean data products that parallel NCEI's climatology and ocean profile archives. Both serve as authoritative climate/weather data sources for international science and policy.
• Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S): EU-operated climate data service providing global reanalyses and climate indicators that compete with and complement NCEI's GHCN-Monthly and Sea Ice CDR products. Both function as authoritative international climate-data infrastructure.
• NASA Earth Science Division: Operates NASA's Earth observation data systems (e.g., EOSDIS) and produces climate-relevant datasets that overlap with NCEI's atmospheric and oceanographic archives. Both are U.S. federal agencies stewarding long-term environmental science data for global research and policy use.

Regional players

• Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): Operates Japan's official climate monitoring, atmospheric, and oceanographic data services that complement NCEI's global archive. Functions as a peer national meteorological service contributing to and consuming international climate datasets.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada: Canada's federal environmental agency that maintains national climate, hydrological, and oceanographic data archives parallel to NCEI. Both publish authoritative climate monitoring products and contribute to international assessments.

Others

• World Meteorological Organization (WMO): Coordinates global climate and meteorological data exchange among national agencies including NCEI. WMO is not a direct data archive but sets the standards that determine how NCEI's data integrates with the international system.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/noaancei
• Facebookfacebook.com/NOAANCEI
• Instagraminstagram.com/noaadata

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Centers for Environmental Information