NOAA Photo Library Banner
spacer
Welcome Banner

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the descendant of America's oldest science agencies, the Survey of the Coast formed in 1807, the Weather Service formed in 1870, and the forerunner of today's National Marine Fisheries Service formed in 1871. The foundation built by these great organizations has given rise to an agency whose realm extends from the surface of the sun to the bottom of the sea, whose concern for life in the sea extends from microscopic creatures to the great whales, and whose reach in time extends from thousands of years in the past to decades in the future with global change studies and observations. On any given day, NOAA ships, buoys, observatories, aircraft, and satellites will observe environmental conditions from Arctic to Antarctic. They might observe features as diverse as fish stocks, ozone content of the atmosphere, sun spots, tornadoes, or coastlines. Or they could be engaged in producing warnings and forecasts or producing charts and tide tables to help keep the citizens of the United States safe in their homes, at their work, or on the seas.

The NOAA Photo Library has been built so as to capture the work, observations, and studies that are carried on by the scientists, engineers, commissioned officers, and administrative personnel that make up this complex and scientifically diverse agency. It also has been built in an attempt to capture NOAA's scientific heritage, which is in fact a heritage shared by much of the physical and environmental science communities in the United States today. To date, over 16,000 images have been digitized and reside in the online NOAA Photo Library. This number will continue growing as long as there are environmental problems to study and solve, as long as the citizens of the United States are threatened by violent weather, as long as mariners need nautical charts, and as long as creatures of the sea need our protection to survive. Until then, you are invited to join NOAA in this photographic essay that spans the World's oceans and atmosphere, carries you from the surface of the sun to the bottom of the sea, and travels through centuries of scientific thought and observations.

spacer

line
Home Button Back to the Main Index Page
line

spacer

line

Publication of the NOAA Central Library
Last Updated: 10/23/00

spacer