The NOAA collection spans centuries of time and much of the natural world from the center of the Earth to the surface of the Sun.

NOAA is descended from the oldest physical science agencies in the United States Federal Government including the Coast Survey (1807), Weather Service (1870) and Fish Commission (1871).

The NOAA of today carries on the work begun by these agencies under the auspices of the National Ocean Service, the National Weather Service , the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

Because of this broad base of scientific expertise and the geographic range under which NOAA science and observations are conducted, the NOAA collection includes thousands of weather and space images, hundreds of images of our shores and coastal seas, and thousands of marine species images ranging from the great whales to the most minute plankton.

The geographic range of NOAA work encompasses polar region to polar region and much of the World's oceans. On any given day NOAA personnel could be chasing tornadoes, flying into hurricanes, battling stormy seas, tagging turtles and whales, taking scientific readings at the South Pole, monitoring the health of coral reefs, or engaging in virtually any task that can be thought of related to monitoring our environment and the health of our planet.

Come join NOAA on its journey through the sciences and over the face of our planet, under its waves, and into space!