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The Space Environment

The apparent void between Sun and Earth is actually a maelstrom of wind and storm, with interludes of calm, always bathed in the harsh glow of ultraviolet and x-ray light. So strong is the outpouring solar wind that Earth's magnetic envelope is distorted, quivering even as it protects the fragile life on our planet.

Welcome to the Space Environment Center

Mission Statement

NOAA Space Environment Center is the Nation's official source of space weather alerts and warnings. The Center continually monitors and forecasts Earth's space environment; provides accurate, reliable, and useful solar-terrestrial information; conducts and leads research and development programs to understand the environment and to improve services; advises policy makers and planners; plays a leadership role in the space weather community; and fosters a space weather services industry.


Organization Overview

The Space Environment Center (SEC) is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. SEC's parent organization is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Within NOAA, SEC is in the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and one of NOAA's 8 National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). SEC conducts research in solar-terrestrial physics, develops techniques for forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances, and provides real-time monitoring and forecasting of solar and geophysical events.

The Center has three divisions:

The three divisions work cooperatively on the overlapping tasks of the Center.

SEC's research scientists, working toward a better understanding of the Sun-Earth connection, study the Sun's electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic-field emissions and the processes by which they affect Earth's space environment.

New instruments and observing techniques continue to improve the accuracy of SEC's data, and new data sets are constantly being added to improve space weather monitoring and analysis. Because some of these data sets come from satellite observations, SEC takes a leading role in advocating and designing new data systems that will fly on government satellites.

SEC's Space Weather Operations (SWO) is the national and world warning center for disturbances that can affect people and equipment working in the space environment. Jointly operated by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force, SWO provides forecasts and warnings of solar and geomagnetic activity to users in government, industry, and the private sector.


SEC Activities

To serve the Nation and reduce adverse effects of space weather disturbances on human activities, SEC:


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