canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/ncei.noaa.gov/ncei-noaa

# Ncei Noaa Gov NCEI Data Service API

The NCEI Data Service API is the National Centers for Environmental Information's bulk-access endpoint for environmental observations and climate data archived by NOAA. A single GET /v1 endpoint accepts dataset, station, data-type, and date-range query parameters and returns observations as CSV, JSON, or other formats. It is the data-tier complement to the Climate Data Online (CDO) API and is intended for direct file-style downloads of observational records.

## For AI agents

Download bulk NOAA environmental observations - including weather observations and climate normals - by dataset, station, and date range as CSV or JSON.

## Scope

Does not handle forecasts, severe-weather alerts, or interactive station search - use for bulk download of historical environmental observations only.

## Capabilities

- Download bulk weather observations by dataset name and station list
- Pull climate normals for a station and date range as CSV or JSON
- Filter results to specific data types like TMAX, TMIN, PRCP, or SNOW
- Request observations across multiple stations in a single call
- Choose response format (CSV, JSON, NetCDF) via the `format` query parameter
- Return only requested fields using the `dataTypes` filter to reduce payload size

## Use cases

### Bulk Climate Data Export

Researchers and data engineers download multi-station, multi-year observation files from the NCEI Data Service in a single request. The /v1 endpoint streams CSV or JSON keyed on the chosen dataset (e.g., daily-summaries, normals-monthly). Replaces multiple paged calls and is the recommended path for ingesting NOAA data into a warehouse.

Example prompt: Call GET /v1 with dataset=daily-summaries, stations=GHCND:USW00094728, startDate=2025-01-01, endDate=2025-12-31, format=csv and stream the response to storage

### Climate Normals Retrieval for Site Reports

Engineering and planning teams pull 1991-2020 climate normals for a station to populate site-assessment reports. The NCEI Data Service returns monthly and daily normals in CSV or JSON, eliminating the need to parse the NOAA web portal. Reports can be regenerated on demand as updated normals publish.

Example prompt: Call GET /v1 with dataset=normals-monthly, stations=USW00014739, format=json and parse the monthly normals into a report

### Observation Backfill for Forecasting Models

Forecasting and ML teams backfill training datasets by pulling years of historical observations across thousands of stations. A single GET /v1 call with a station list and date range returns the full extract, which is then stored in object storage for model training. Faster than the paginated CDO API for full-history pulls.

Example prompt: Issue GET /v1 with a comma-separated stations list and startDate of 2010-01-01 to download a 15-year backfill

### Agent-Driven Climate Data Fetch

An AI agent invoked by an analyst pulls a custom climate slice - a station, date range, and data types - and hands the resulting CSV to a downstream tool. Jentic resolves the natural-language request to GET /v1 and supplies the right parameters without requiring the agent to learn the NCEI URL convention.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'download NOAA daily summaries CSV', execute GET /v1 with the requested stations, dates, and dataTypes

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | `/v1` | Retrieve environmental observations as CSV, JSON, or NetCDF |

## Key resources

- **Data Service** — Single bulk-access endpoint (GET /v1) returning environmental observations filtered by dataset, station, data type, and date range

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the NCEI Data Service by hand still means learning its query-parameter conventions for dataset, stations, dates, and format on the ncei.noaa.gov host and handling errors on each bulk download, even with no key to manage. Through Jentic you install once, import the NCEI Data Service API from the API Directory, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** NCEI exposes a single read-only operation that takes all its filters in the query, so scope the agent to just that operation. It downloads historical observations and nothing that changes state, since no other operation is in the allowed set.
- **Credential handling:** The NCEI Data Service needs no credential, so there is nothing to store: your own Jentic One instance still mediates each call at execution time. No secret ever enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'download NOAA daily summaries as CSV', and Jentic returns the operation with its input schema so the agent supplies dataset, stations, dates, and format without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **NOAA Climate Data Online** — CDO offers structured discovery and filtered queries; NCEI Data Service handles bulk download of the same underlying observations.
- **OpenWeatherMap API** — OpenWeatherMap provides global current and forecast weather; NCEI Data Service provides authoritative U.S. historical observations in bulk.
- **Norwegian Meteorological Institute API** — met.no offers European forecasts; NCEI Data Service offers U.S. historical observation downloads.

## FAQ

### What authentication does the NCEI Data Service API use?

The Data Service endpoint is open and does not require authentication or an API key - the spec declares no security schemes. Through Jentic, the API can be called directly with no credential setup, though heavy usage should respect NOAA's published fair-use guidance.

### What datasets can I download through GET /v1?

Common dataset values include `daily-summaries`, `global-summary-of-the-month`, `global-summary-of-the-year`, `normals-monthly`, and `normals-daily`. The full list is documented at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/support/access-data-service-api-user-documentation.

### What are the rate limits for the NCEI Data Service API?

NOAA does not publish hard rate limits for this service but enforces fair-use throttling. Use the response-format parameter and dataTypes filter to keep payloads small, and avoid issuing parallel requests for overlapping date ranges.

### How do I download daily summaries for a station through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'download NCEI daily summaries', load the schema for GET /v1, and execute with dataset=daily-summaries, stations set to the desired GHCND IDs, a startDate and endDate, and format=csv or json.

### How does this differ from NOAA Climate Data Online (CDO)?

CDO (ncdc.noaa.gov) is a structured query API with 13 endpoints for browsing datasets, stations, and locations. The NCEI Data Service is a single bulk endpoint optimised for downloading observation files. Use CDO for discovery and filtered queries; use NCEI Data Service for bulk extracts.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the NCEI Data Service API?

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, you decide which operations your agent may call, and the NCEI Data Service API exposes only a single read-only GET /v1 operation that downloads historical environmental observations by dataset, station, data type, and date range. Scope the agent to just that one operation and it can fetch observation files as CSV, JSON, or NetCDF but cannot do anything that changes state, since no other operation is in the allowed set. No credential is needed for this API, so your self-hosted instance simply mediates each call at execution time under your own rules.