The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) comprise the Department of Commerce’s (DOC’s) participation in USGCRP.

NOAA’s strategic climate goal is “an informed society anticipating and responding to climate and its impacts.”

NOAA’s overall objective is to provide decision makers with a predictive understanding of the climate and to communicate climate information so that people can make more informed decisions in their lives, businesses, and communities. These outcomes are pursued by implementing a global observing system, conducting research to understand climate processes, developing improved modeling capabilities, and developing and deploying climate educational programs and information services. NOAA aims to achieve its climate goal through the following strategic objectives:

• Improved scientific understanding of the changing climate system and its impacts 
• Assessments of current and future states of the climate system that identify potential impacts and inform science, service, and stewardship decisions
• Mitigation and adaptation efforts supported by sustained, reliable, and timely climate services
• A climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities to a changing climate and makes informed decisions

NIST works with other Federal agencies to develop or extend internationally accepted traceable measurement standards, methodologies, and technologies that enhance measurement capabilities for greenhouse gas emission inventories and measurements critical to advancing climate science research. NIST provides measurements and standards that support accurate, comparable, and reliable climate observations and provides calibrations and special tests to improve the accuracy of a wide range of instruments and techniques used in climate research and monitoring.