4. 歴史
The close association between NOAA and the U. S. Navy began in 1956 with the collocation of the National Weather Bureau and U.S. Fleet Weather Central, Suitland in Federal Building #4 at the Suitland Federal Complex. One result of this move was close cooperation between the Navy and Department of Commerce to maximize productivity and efficient use of resources without duplicating effort. Later development of weather satellites and the resultant impact of satellite imagery in meteorology and oceanography led to the formation of NESDIS. The value of satellite imagery to global ice analyses and forecasts contributed to the formation of the Joint Ice Center in 1976, comprised of personnel from NOAA (NESDIS) and the Navy (Fleet Weather Facility, Suitland, MD). In 1995, the Joint Ice Center became the National Ice Center as it expanded to include the U. S. Coast Guard. Coast Guard aircraft, icebreakers and Marine Safety Offices contribute valuable platforms for onsite aerial and ship observations, as well as accurate and timely ship and station reports. Today, interagency cooperation produces rich dividends as the Naval Ice Center, NOAA, and the Coast Guard work together to operate the National Ice Center and accomplish the national mission of providing global ice analyses and forecasts. Additionally the NIC enjoys a close international relationship and data exchange with the Ice Services Environment Canada and the Canadian Meteorological Center.
Special projects completed at the NIC and its predecessors through the years include Project FAMOS (Fleet Application of Meteorological Observations) in 1962, marking the birth of environmental satellite operations at the center. This center also provided environmental support to the USS THRESHER recovery operations in 1964 and APOLLO Twelve and Thirteen lunar missions. In 1978, the Fleet Weather Center, Suitland component of the Joint Ice Center received a Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy. In 1991, the NIC became the central coordinating body for the USIABP. In 1995, the NIC produced and disseminated a fully automated, digital product - an ice analysis of the Great Lakes, which was also provided to the NWS as input to the U.S. weather forecasting numerical model. Currently, the NIC is working with the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission - Environmental Working Group to declassify, digitize and compile nineteen years of Arctic sea ice climotological data held at the NIC, which will be included in a joint U. S. - Russian Federation Sea Ice Atlas CD-ROM. The NIC stands ready to tackle tomorrow's challenges with the same vigor demonstrated throughout its distinguished history.
