Introduction
The United States National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), previously known as the National Weather Records Center (NWRC), in Asheville, North Carolina was the world's largest active archive of weather data. Data were received from a wide variety of sources, including weather satellites, radar, automated airport weather stations, National Weather Service (NWS) cooperative observers, aircraft, ships, radiosondes, wind profilers, rocketsondes, solar radiation networks, and NWS Forecast/Warnings/Analyses Products. The Center provided historical perspectives on climate which were vital to studies on global climate change, the greenhouse effect, and other environmental issues. The Center stored information essential to industry, agriculture, science, hydrology, transportation, recreation, and engineering. These services are still provided by the NCEI.
