NOAA consolidates its climate-modeling network

The center, which will house more than 800 meteorologists, climate scientists, and other NOAA employees, has a stated mission to provide “environmental analysis, diagnostics and forecasts from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor.” That charge includes collecting data from ground-, ocean-, and space-based instruments; developing numerical models to predict weather events out to two weeks and air quality out to one day; projecting seasonal climate scenarios such as droughts and El Niño weather systems; and analyzing episodic events like volcanic eruptions and wildfires.