About the North Carolina - NCEI DEVELOP Office: The DEVELOP office at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in Asheville, North Carolina opened in 2014. The office hosts projects that create impactful products and analyses for a variety of end-users and was honored by a 2015 NCEI Employee's Choice Award for Innovative Product of the Year. The office fosters unique collaborations between NASA's Applied Sciences Capacity Building Program and NOAA. Another important organization to the DEVELOP program at NCEI is the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), which is a multi-agency partnership that coordinates drought monitoring, forecasting, planning, and information for the United States in a comprehensive, holistic way. Projects at the node tend to focus primarily on climate and drought applications due to its embedded relationship with NCEI's Climate and Weather Service and NIDIS. Participants work in the midst of some of NOAA's top scientists, including Nobel Prize nominees. Many projects in the past have gone to these experts for mentorship and often find open doors and project advice. The NASA DEVELOP location at NCEI provides participants with direct access to renowned meteorologists and influential climatologists. Many of the science advisors have diverse backgrounds, and the affiliation with NCEI gives teams access to NOAA's Regional Climate Service Directors, as well as many other NOAA organizations.
Office Host History: NOAA's NCEI in Asheville holds the world's largest climate and weather data archive, containing extensive data that ranges from weather observations taken by Thomas Jefferson and petroglyphs from indigenous peoples to near-real time satellite remote sensing data. In 1951, the Federal Government consolidated millions of pages of archived weather data from across the country to Asheville for safekeeping. In 2015, NOAA merged its three major data centers to create NCEI as a way to meet a growing demand for environmental information. As one organization, NCEI can be viewed as “The Nation’s Official Scorekeeper” of climate and environmental information. One mission of NCEI is to focus on end-user needs and engagement, creating a perfect niche for NASA DEVELOP within NCEI's headquarters.