= National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
{c}
The <National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration> is a United States scientific agency whose observations and research cover the atmosphere and oceans. Its measurement products connect <meteorology>, <climatology> and <ocean circulation>, with a stated observing method and reference period needed to interpret each product.
For example, its <Arctic Oscillation> index projects a measured atmospheric field onto a specified spatial pattern, while a <climatological normal> summarizes a different kind of information: statistics over a defined reference interval.<Arctic Oscillation monitoring by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration>[Current Conditions: index construction]{ref}<U.S. Climate Normals by NOAA>[Definition of reference-period climate normals]{ref} Neither product is a direct measurement of one universal scalar called climate.
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